Bandaids Can't Fix Scars
by TheCandyCravingDemon
Summary: Adrien had always been a relatively talkative child, that is until his mother went missing and was found dead. Gabriel has busied himself with work since then, constantly drowning his problems out with alcohol to numb the pain. He avoids his son as much as possible, Adrien a constant reminder of his late wife. Adrien's hurting, and he needs someone to help cope with the sorrow.
1. Undeniable Love

_**Chapter 1: Undeniable Love**_

 ** _Full Summary : Adrien had always been a relatively talkative child, that is until his mother went missing and was found dead. Gabriel has busied himself with work since then, constantly drowning his problems out with alcohol to numb the pain. He avoids his son as much as possible, Adrien a constant reminder of his late wife. Adrien's hurting, and he needs a father, a family, a friend, to help cope with the sorrow and the depression, but he's alone, and he's too afraid to tell anybody, too afraid to ask for help. _**

* * *

Adrien never spoke to anybody unless he was spoken to first. He always sat quietly at his desk, hands folded in his lap, emerald green eyes always downcast.

Marinette couldn't help but notice how lonely the boy seemed to be. She couldn't help but notice all the small white scars that littered his toned skin, which she found peculiar, considering that Adrien was a model. Marinette slowly got up from her own desk and seated herself down next to the blond. She gently rested her hand on his shoulder, but she couldn't help but take notice of how bony and sharp his shoulder was, as well as how violently the boy flinched at her touch.

Marinette's bluebell eyes immediately widened in shock. She quickly pulled her hand away. "Ah, I'm sorry if I scared you!" She exclaimed, apologizing over and over, her cheeks flushed. "I'm Marinette, I sit behind you." She said extending her hand and pointing at the empty seat behind her with the other.

Adrien met the girl's bright eyes, slowly extending his own hand and shaking her's. "I'm Adrien." The blond said, forcing himself to fake a smile for her. Adrien didn't like forging emotions, but he was so familiar with creating fake facades for work, it was like second nature to him.

Marinette felt her heart skip a beat as the blond gave her a gentle smile. _How was is it even physically possible to be this adorable?!,_ she wondered to herself, desperately trying to keep her composure.

She cleared her throat, and shook the thoughts out of her head. "S- So has everything been okay with you? I... I've noticed you've been pretty quiet lately...and your eyes, there's something that makes you look melancholy, like a pained sadness."

"Of course everything's fine, I'm sorry if I worried you." Adrien said with another forced smile, followed by a hollow nervous laugh. However, everything wasn't fine. It hadn't been fine since the day his mother turned up dead. That was when it started. When the depression and weight of the situation beginning to sink in on him, when Gabriel began to slowly spend less and less time at home and drinking more and more alcohol. At that, the seldom times his father was home, he was scarcely ever sober. Adrien knew his father couldn't help it, he knew that Gabriel's mind was clouded and hazy from the alcohol, but many times Adrien would end up being beaten and abused. Many times an empty bottle was often thrashed against his back, leaving shards of glass in his skin and multiple hideous cuts and scars, many times Gabriel's assault left bruises or deep slits in his toned skin, but Adrien still didn't blame his father. In fact, many times, the blond himself had considered taking a large swig from one of the vodka bottles in the minibar downstairs, however the pungent pricking smell always discouraged him.

Marinette studied the blond carefully. His shoulders were bony, too bony, and his face seemed much more hollow than it had before, his cheekbones seemingly pressing tightly against his skin. Marinette didn't want to pry, but she was concerned about her fellow classmate, about his wellbeing. She shook her head. She was probably just being too paranoid about the situation and overthinking things like she normally did. "Oh alright." The ravenette replied calmly. "I- If you ever need anything, feel free to ask." She added gently with a warm genuine smile as she stood up from her seat and gave a small wave before returning to her own seat.

 _I can't tell her. I can't let anyone from school find out._ Adrien thought firmly as he nodded, watching the girl stand up.

Suddenly, the bell signaling class had ended rang, causing all of the students to bolt for the door. Everyone except Adrien. Adrien picked up his things slowly, without much hurry. He absolutely despised his next class; gym. He didn't really mind the physical part of it, such as running, stretching, and playing sports, he just despised the locker rooms. His teacher required the class to change into different clothes for gym, otherwise participation points would be taken off their grade, and Adrien's father expected nothing less than a hundred from his son, nothing but solid straight A's on his report card.

He had a particular reason for hating it, specifically because it exposed his tattered tainted skin, revealing all of the cuts and tender blackish bluish bruises on his sides, back, and chest. He loved Gabriel too much to let his classmates accuse his father of child abuse and put his father in prison. Even though it hurt, and Adrien couldn't bare to look Gabriel in the eyes anymore, he knew, deep down, somewhere in his father's cold hardened heart, was his compassionate ambitious dad before his mother had left them, and he was determined to take all of those beatings, all of the pain, if it meant Gabriel would return to his former self.

Adrien walked at a slow leisurely pace, not exactly tortoise speed, but just slightly slower than his usual walking pace. He always tried to arrive to class slightly late so he'd have the locker room to himself, so no one could see his scars, so no one could hurt his father. He'd forged Gabriel's signature to write a note to the office, saying that he had ' _bladder_ _issues_ ' so it took him longer to get to class due to how long he had to spend in the ' _bathroom_ '. His P.E. teacher was pissed for the first few weeks when Adrien suddenly brought up the issue, but eventually he came to just ignore the issue and let Adrien do as he pleased.

The blond swallowed hard and let out a shaky breath. _You'll be fine. No one will see. There won't be anyone in the locker room, no one will see you, it'll be fine._ With a trembling hand, he pulled open the gym door.

Everyone immediately turned in his direction, Adrien felt all sets of eyes turn on him, almost like thousands of tiny needles piercing his skin.

"Agreste," The coach acknowledged. "Hurry up and get changed. _Now_." He said rolling his eyes, his tone derogatory.

"Y- Yes sir." Adrien said, quickly hurrying off to the locker room, anxiety building up inside him with everyone staring at his small form.

As the heavy door shut behind him, he let out a small sigh of relief. He then began to set his stuff down and slid off his white button over dress shirt. As he began to pull his usual black t-shirt over his head, his waist showing he thought he heard ruffling from someone else's clothing, aside from his own. His heartbeat immediately sped up. _Calm down Adrien. You're hallucinating. It was nothing_ , He attempted to reassure himself. He let out another shaky breath and continued to remove his shirt and lift it over his head, revealing the whole upper half of his body.

"Woah dude, what happened to you?" someone asked Adrien from behind, extreme concern in his voice.

Adrien's heart nearly stopped and he felt his bottom lip begin to quiver, his pupils dilating. He felt like he couldn't breath, and his heart was ramming against his ribcage like a battering ram, threatening to pound straight out of his chest. The blond's face immediately fell pale, his stomach tying itself in knots, sending a nauseous feeling through his body, reverberating through his entire being.

Adrien slowly turned around. He was met with a boy with dark olive skin, his hair short and dark, a red baseball cap perched along the top of his head, gunmetal gray headphones with orange ends wrapped around his neck. Adrien opened his mouth to formulate words, but he was choking on them, his lips unable to formulate them, only able to sputter fragments of them.

"Your face is awful pale, are you feeling okay dude?" Nino asked with concern, slowly stepping towards the blond, his hand slightly outstretched towards the boy.

"D- Don't touch me!" Adrien immediately yelled, backing away, his eyes wide and stricken with fear.

"Adrien, right?" Nino asked calmly. He'd taken notice of all the wounds the blond harbored, but he didn't ask. He figured the model probably had his reasons for having those scars, for reacting the way he did when he had attempted to reach out to the blond.

"Don't say anything." Adrien whimpered quietly, mortified. "Please, don't tell anyone what you saw. _Please_." Adrien was begging and nearly in tears.

Nino was caught off guard, seeing the boy begin to cry. "I promise I won't." Nino said gently looking into Adrien's emerald eyes. "I'm sure you have your reasons, so I won't ask."

"Promise?" Adrien uttered weakly.

"I promise." Nino confirmed. "But in return, we're going to become bro's okay?"

Adrien had never had any real friends other than Chloe, and he was sure she only hung out with him because of his social status. What did real friends do? Hesitantly, Adrien then nodded his head.

"Now just calm down, okay. I'll make up an excuse for the coach if you need some time to regain your composure."

Adrien nodded and wiped the tears away from his eyes. "N- Number." The blond asked weakly, stuttering.

"Number? Number for what?" Nino repeated.

"Phone number." Adrien said quietly, his cheeks flushing pink and his eyes falling downcast in embarrassment.

The olive skinned boy grinned. He then proceeded to tell the blond his number, the two exchanging numbers.

"Remember, you promised." Adrien said, finally calming down, slipping his shirt for gym on and changing into a pair of basketball shorts.

"Don't worry, friends don't break promises." Nino stated firmly, smiling at his newly acquired friend as they both left the locker room.

* * *

Adrien looked up at the humongous mansion that he called home. In his opinion it was too big. It made him feel even lonelier when he could hear his own footsteps echoing through the halls. As he stuck the key in the lock and turned it, he pulled open the door. "I'm home." He spoke into the empty desolate mansion, his voice echoing and ricocheting off every wall.

Suddenly a voice called back. One Adrien was all to familiar with, one that he always longed to hear, one that he'd always wanted to be praised by. "Adrien. We need to talk."

The blond slowly closed the front door behind him and looked to the top of the staircase to see his father's tall lean figure. "Father?" He asked confused, almost dumbfounded.

"You've been neglecting your photoshoots and interviews. Why is that?" Gabriel asked sternly, his tone unwavering, and his lips pulled into a tight line.

 _He's sober_ , Adrien thought amazed, pleased to hear his father speaking correctly without any slurred words.

"Well I can't-"

"What have I told you?" Gabriel interrupted, his eyes narrowed. "Never say can't. No son of mine will say he 'can't' do something." He scolded, his glare like ice picks digging into Adrien's back."

"But I- You- The cuts and bruises-"

"Enough. If you can't formulate proper sentences, don't speak at all. You're wasting precious oxygen."

Adrien sighed, his eyes growing a shade darker as they fell downcast, his bangs falling over into his face.

The blond proceeded up the stairs without another word, not making eye contact with the designer.

Adrien closed his bedroom door and slid down it, pulling his knees in close to him, pulling out his phone and looking through his camera roll, scrolling through the pictures with his mother in it. "Why? Why did you leave us Mom? Father need's you. _I_ need you. I don't know how much longer I can handle this. I can feel myself slipping away. How do I do this? I thought I would be responsible and try to piece Father back together, but I _can't_. I don't know how to anymore. I- I just can't!" The blond thought aloud, bursting into tears again, sniffling. His salty tear cascading down his cheeks, small droplets dripping onto his now dim phone screen.

Adrien sucked in a breath through his teeth exhaling slowly as he got up off the floor.

* * *

Adrien sat quietly at the dinner table, his father sitting at the chair farthest from the one that had been designated his. Adrien's heart throbbed ever-so slightly. He stared down in dismay at the food on his plate. He glanced up at Gabriel's, then back at his own. His father's plate consisted of a large juicy well done steak, along with other dainty dishes, but nonetheless delicious appetizers. While his own was more or less a salad without any dressing, and a small pitiful chunk of what looked like white and uncooked, still partially raw meat. Adrien stabbed a few leaves of lettuce with his fork and held it up, examining it. He then slowly set the fork down and picked up the glass set in front of him, swishing the thick liquid inside back and forth with his wrist. He knew what it was, he knew what it tasted like, and he knew the vitamins and proteins it was supposed to provide, but he didn't want to drink it. A vegetable mesh protein drink, mixed with a raw egg or two.

This was his 'model diet' meant to keep him thin and keep his skin clear and free from acne and other blemishes and imperfections. Eating salad everyday for every meal got old quick, and forcing a liquid down your throat that made you gag with every swallow wasn't exactly appealing. Adrien had gotten to the point where now most of the time he only ate one meal a day, and at that it was only enough to stop his stomach from growling, nowhere near enough to fill him up.

Adrien continued to play with his food, stabbing at the vegetables with his fork and swirling the tomatoes around his plate, staring at it in disgust and disinterest.

Without looking up or even pausing from eating his food, Gabriel readjusted his glasses and spoke after he took a sip of wine from his champagne glass. "Adrien stop playing with your food. You're not a child anymore. Food is prepared for you to eat, not for you to toy with."

Adrien looked up, setting his fork down. "I had a rather large lunch at school Father, so I'm still rather full."

"Don't lie to me Adrien. I can check on the bank account how much you spent for lunch at school and exactly what you bought. I can trace all purchases and transactions you make with your credit card. You bought a bottle of water, and _only_ a bottle of water."

Adrien swallowed the hard lump in his throat. "Really Father, I'm not hungry." He protested weakly.

" _Adrien_."

"My figure is thin and slender. My face is free of acne. I fail to see the problem."

His father's cheeks were lightly flushed, more red than his natural pale complexion. Adrien scowled. His father wasn't quite drunk yet, but by the shade of his face, Adrien knew Gabriel was already tipsy. There are two types of drunks, the happy giggling laughing ones, and then there were the aggressive violent drunks. Unfortunately, Adrien's father was the latter of the two.

"None of that matters if you aren't even attending photoshoots." His father ridiculed back.

"Well I've been feeling ill lately, so I figured I shouldn't be featured in magazines with a sickly complexion."

"For the last two weeks?" Gabriel asked with a subtle, but definitely present aggressiveness in the tone of his voice, as well as a cocked eyebrow.

Sure Adrien may not have been sick, but by the way he'd felt the last few weeks, he sure as hell felt like he was. With all of the cuts and bruises underneath his shirt, it hurt anytime he made sudden movements or attempted to lay down, like each little wound was a patch of fire threatening to eat through his skin.

"Goodnight Father, I'll be excusing myself to retire for the night now." Adrien said quickly, stumbling and nearly tripping as he attempted to scramble out of the dining room.

However as Adrien was climbing up the stairs, probably only about five steps up, Gabriel grabbed a fistful of the back of Adrien's shirt and jerked him downwards, and the next thing Adrien knew, he was falling. The blond landed with a loud thud on the white marble floor, his face contorted in pain.

Adrien's head throbbed and everything was swirling around him like he were in a daze.

Gabriel finished all of the wine in his champagne glass, tilting his head back. He then dropped the translucent cup, letting his fingers unwrap from it, the glass shattering on impact as soon as it hit the floor, only a few inches away from Adrien's face.

The blond quickly squeezed his eyes shut, and winced as he felt some of the shattered fragments of glass strike his cheek and his right temple.

" _Listen boy_ , you _don't_ leave when I'm in the middle of talking to you." The boy's father growled, his breath already beginning to mimic the scent of alcohol. "Now get up." He commanded firmly.

Adrien opened his eyes and sighed, slowly starting to sit up.

"I said GET UP!" Gabriel

threatened, raising his voice. He then brought a swift kick into Adrien's side, knocking the wind out of the blond and causing him to fall back on his back again.

"I don't have time to deal with this ludicrous nonsense you worthless waste of oxygen." Gabriel huffed, carelessly stepping right on Adrien's chest, directly overtop of his ribcage. Adrien's eyes widened and he let out a small vocal outcry of pain as he heard a sickening snap as Gabriel's weight began to build pressure on his ribs. "I don't have enough alcohol in my system to deal with this shit." His father continued to grumble under his breath as strode off towards the minibar.

Adrien's breath hitched in ragged desperate breaths. Sucking in air through his teeth, he forced himself up into a standing position, his arm clutching his chest, his other hand desperately clinging to the railing of the staircase, hard enough his knuckles were turning white.

Black blobs began to invade the corner's of Adrien's vision, slowly engulfing everything in darkness. Adrien could feel himself slipping, could feel his grip around the railing began to loosen, until he couldn't feel anything. Until all he could feel was a cold numbness that resonated throughout his body, and the sensation of falling. Just like that, Adrien fell unconscious, his body plummeting towards the ivory marble floor.

* * *

Adrien groaned as his eyes finally opened. His head throbbed, his chest ached, and basically every part of his body screamed in agony. _What happened? What time is it?,_ Adrien wondered as he pulled himself up. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, turning it on to check the time. **1:45 A.M.**

 _How long was I passed out?_

The house was cold and engulfed in darkness, absolute silence other than the occasional sound of glass clinking against a marble countertop and the occasional swish of liquid being poured.

Adrien walked slowly, walking as close to the wall as possible, afraid that hidden shadow monsters would emerge out of the darkness and strangle the life out of him. He continued towards the streams of light stretching out into the hallway, emitting from a room Adrien knew all too well. However, like a bug, he was drawn towards the light, subconsciously continuing to stumble towards it. The blond cautiously peered around the corner of the only room with a light on. Gabriel was sitting on a bar stool at the minibar, slumped over the counter with a half filled shot glass in his hand, an empty vodka bottle not far from his fingertips.

"Father?" Adrien asked weakly, cautiously stepping from out behind the doorway and into the room. "How many shots have you already had?"

"Does it fucking matter?" Adrien's father growled back.

"If you drink too much you'll get a hangover."

"Listen boy, I'll drink as much as I damn want to. Now get the hell out of here!"

"Dad-" Adrien started, walking towards Gabriel, placing his hand on the man's shoulder.

Gabriel snapped. His son's touch brought back a jarring memory, one of which his wife had gently grazed his shoulder, telling him that he should take a break from working on designs, and of how a younger Adrien had ran into the room and jumped onto him and into his arms, the three of them then embracing in a tight hug, amplifying their own body heat.

"ADRIEN WHAT THE HELL HAVE I TOLD YOU?!" Gabriel screamed, snapping the blond's hand back, and tackling the teenager to the floor, smashing the empty vodka bottle against the boy's head. Gabriel sat on top of Adrien's stomach, his own hands clutching the model's throat, ready to choke.

The blond's emerald eyes widened in fear and disbelief. "F- Father- I- I-" he stuttered unable to form a proper sentence. "Please Dad, I'm sorry!" Adrien choked out, salty tears beginning to cascade from his eyes.

Gabriel gritted his teeth, his eyebrows arched downwards at a firm slant. "You damn worthless child." He spat through clenched teeth. "Damn it! DAMN IT! Why do you look so much like her!" He shook his head furiously. "Why was it her? Why couldn't it have been you or hell even me?! Sh- She didn't deserve to die like that! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU!" Gabriel yelled, beginning to sob, as his grip around his son's neck began to tighten.

Adrien gasped for air and coughed, beginning to become unable to breath. "Fa- Father!" Adrien yelled as he began to squirm and convulse.

Suddenly the small sober portion of Gabriel's brain kicked in, realization of what he was doing sinking in. With a quick gasp parting from his lips, Gabriel immediately released his hold on Adrien's neck. "Wh- What have I done?!" Gabriel yelled horrified, staring at his unconscious, barely breathing child, blood beginning to cascade and drip in rivulets off of Adrien's forehead.

* * *

 **A/N: So what'd you think? I love reviews, follows, and favorites, so feel free to do so if you enjoyed this fic. Sorry if the characters are extremely ooc. This will most likely be a multi-chapter fic (mainly depending on if anyone likes it...), and eventually I will lead into some Adrienette and some Nino-Adrien friendship :) Thanks for reading!**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**


	2. Friendship: A Bond That Can't Be Broken

_**Chapter 2: Friendship: A Bond That Can't Be Broken**_

* * *

A constant simple chiming melody seemed to echo through Adrien's ears; the doorbell. He didn't want to get up, to open his eyes. He shifted and turned on his side, trying to block out the noise, but it continued to chime and ring insistently. Finally, Adrien couldn't stand it anymore, so he unwillingly opened his eyes and sat up, which he immediately came to regret. His chest felt like it was being burnt away with acid, sharp pangs and stabs everytime he tried to move.

Adrien scowled and forced himself into a standing position, nearly tumbling and falling over. His head throbbed with every pounding heartbeat, and the room spun and swayed around in circles, destroying any sense of balance the blond had. He was in his bedroom, how had he wound up there? Shrugging the matter off, he pressed himself against doorway and desperately grasped at any railing or wall fixtures he could, to keep himself balanced.

Once Adrien finally reached the front door, he hesitantly turned the handle to the door. His eyes widened when his gaze fell over the visitor's face. "Nino?" Adrien asked groggily, slightly cocking his head to one side and blinking slowly, as he stared into the olive skinned boy's hazel irises.

"Yo! What's up bro?" Nino asked with a wide smile in a friendly manner. "How come you didn't show up to class today? I texted you and waited for you..."

"You did?" Adrien asked dumbfounded, his head still spinning as he slowly pulled his phone out of his pocket. As he turned his phone screen on, he was met with probably at least ten messages from the teenager in front of him, if not more. "Oh...sorry." Adrien said weakly with a sheepish smile and a nervous laugh. "I'm just not feeling very well. I actually just now woke up if that says anything." He admitted with another laugh, gently running his hand through his tangled hair.

"Oh dude, did I wake you up?" Nino asked, feeling slightly guilty.

"Mm, no it's fine. Do you want to come in?" The blonde offered, stepping aside and holding the door open wide enough to let the other boy inside.

"Um, sure." The dark haired teenager then proceeded to enter the mansion, continuing to follow the blond up the staircase.

It took all of Adrien's concentration not to fall. He felt so weak and so tired, he felt like if he weren't using all of his muscles and all of his brain cells to stay focused on moving, he would collapse right there on the spot.

"And this is my room, feel free to make yourself at home." Adrien said gesturing to the large space that he called his own.

Nino's jaw dropped and his pupils dilated in disbelief. "Th- There's no way. There's no way all of this is your room." Nino said in awe as he slowly spun around in a circle, slowly taking in everything Adrien's room had to offer. To him, this was pure eye candy.

 _Don't collapse. Don't collapse. Please don't collapse_ , Adrien begged himself internally.

"I brought the work that we did today, and I took an extra copy of notes for you." Nino said, pulling out a decent sized stack of papers that were all clipped together with a large pea green, metal binder clip, out of the messenger bag that hung at his side.

Absentmindedly, Adrien took the papers from him and thanked him, also giving a nod of acknowledgement. The room was spinning again, he felt like his head was going to explode.

" 'Ey man, are you feeling okay?" Nino asked, looking up and studying the face of his friend.

Adrien didn't like to admit weakness if he could help it, and he was already more vulnerable than he would've liked to be, especially since Nino knew his secret. "No, I'm fine." Adrien coaxed, giving another hollow smile. "My complexion just hasn't settled yet, since I just woke up."

 _Adrien, what are you doing? You agreed that the two of you would be friends, friends don't lie to each other._

"Alright... If you say so..." The olive skinned boy trailed off, looking deeply into the blond's emerald eyes, searching for any sign of dishonesty. He had a deep sense of disbelief and suspicion.

The two sat on his bed, both sitting with their hands folded in their laps, a heavy awkward tension and silence hanging between them. Adrien shifted and turned to look at Nino. The blond sighed and bit his bottom lip. "You don't have to force yourself to be nice to me." He said, his head turned in the other teenager's direction, but he was unable to look him in the eyes.

Nino glanced up at the blond, his words catching him off guard. "Forced? Dude I'm being nice to you because I want to be bro's, when I said that, I meant that."

Adrien's emerald green eyes flickered upwards, but quickly fell back downcast, strands of golden angelic hair falling into his face. "I've had people who've tried to befriend me before." Adrien started slowly, fidgeting and twiddling his thumbs. "They only used me for my wealth and my social status, so I ended up being backstabbed and scorned in the end."

Nino pursed his lips and frowned. "I wouldn't ever do that. I don't care who society says you are, I judge people by character, and I chose to be friends with you because I wanted to gain a friend, not because I wanted to benefit from something."

"Oh- No! I wasn't trying to say that you would do something like that, I'm just saying that for a while it may be hard for me to open up to you and trust you because of that incident." Adrien said quickly in a flustered manner, throwing his hands up and waving them frantically, his cheeks flushing a light shade of pink. "Ah-... I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing, you didn't do anything wrong dude?"

Adrien exhaled slowly. Everything was too complicated for him to wrap his mind around in the state he was in. "I'm just gonna get a shower." The blond said getting up, striding towards his walk-in closet. "Mi casa es su casa, so make yourself at home. The tv's over there, and I have a PlayStation 4 if you're into gaming, the games are in the cabinet." The model informed, pointing in the general vicinity of the area.

"Oh sweet!" Nino chimed, a large grin spreading across his face. As the olive skinned boy rummaged through the games, he couldn't help but gasp. "What?! You already have the newest Call of Duty?! This isn't even available to buy yet! Hell, you can't even preorder it! How do you already have it?!"

Adrien closed the door to his closet. "I have connections. If you have a PS4 I could get you a copy?"

"Y- Yes! That would be awesome!" Nino exclaimed, his hazel eyes practically sparkling.

Adrien looked over his shoulder and shot a genuine grin to the other teenager, before he made his way into the bathroom. That was the first time in while that Adrien had smiled, _actually_ smiled, at someone.

Adrien gingerly closed the door behind him and sighed. He stared at his reflection, staring at his hollowed cheeks, his sunken in eyes, the green in his irises a shade darker then they had been before his mother had passed. Adrien stared into his deep melancholy eyes. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. He wondered, if that was true, what people saw when they looked through his windows. Did they see his previous careless and buoyant self, or did they see the shell of the person he used to be, the insecure, anxious, self conscious person he was now?

Adrien closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. He then gingerly pulled his shirt off and placed it in the hamper. "Twenty three." Adrien mumbled quietly to himself, looking at his slender waist and his bony ribs. He had lost twenty three pounds since his mother had left them. He wished he could say that he was losing the weight due to a diet or due to an ample amount of exercise, but then he would've been lying again. He knew he was too thin, but he couldn't help it, no matter how many weight-gain supplements he took, his waistline only continued to shrink. For a while, the model was in denial when he first heard the news that his mom had been found, and by then, deceased. But once everything finally began to sink in as reality, the depression hit Adrien hard, washing over him like a wave, nearly crushing his small frame.

Adrien rubbed his hand over chest, and over his sides. He winced as his fingers grazed the tender bruises and cuts, but as his hand ran over the sharp jut of his ribs, Adrien had to suck a quick breath of air in and bite his bottom lip to keep from letting out a yelp of pain. His memory was still hazy, but he vaguely remembered Gabriel pressing all of his weight down on his chest, stepping over him like dirt. Adrien closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.

Shaking his head, Adrien removed the rest of his clothing and stepped into the shower, turning on the handle. He let out a gentle sigh of relief as the warm water pelted his skin, clearing his pores.

As he was finishing up and washing the shampoo suds out of his hair, a sudden spell of dizziness struck him, nearly causing him to topple over.

 _I'm sure it's probably just too much steam..._ Adrien attempted to reassure himself as he turned the water off and stepped out, drying himself off with a towel.

Suddenly black began to invade his vision and he felt dizzy and somewhat nauseous, almost falling over again. _Am I sick? What's wrong with me?,_ Adrien questioned as he concentrated on steadying himself. Ignoring the sensation, the blond continued to attempt to dress himself, but at some point in between, before he could finish, his vision had went to total darkness and he had lost his balance completely, gravity winning the tug-of-war, knocking him to the ground as he fell unconscious.

* * *

Nino paused, looking up from the television and the shooting game he was currently playing. His eyes stared intently at the closed white of the bathroom door. He'd heard a crash, and he was sure that it wasn't from the game. The teenager gently set the controller down and slowly walked towards the closed door. He stood hesitantly at the door, an ear pressed against the wood, a half raised fist, anxious to knock.

Swallowing the hard lump in his throat, Nino brought his fist against the wood, knocking gently. "Adrien? You alright man?"

He waited for what felt like an eternity, which in reality was only about a minute, but no response came, nor did it seem like he was going to get one anytime soon. In fact there wasn't any sound at all other than the occasional drip-drop from the faucet.

"Adrien?" He called again, louder this time and banging his fist against the door harder, with more pressure. He tried again, but his attempts were fruitless, the result no different than the first.

Exhaling slowly, Nino squeezed his eyes shut and released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "I'm coming in." He announced, waiting a few seconds before actually entering.

He glanced around the room. He was confused when he didn't see the model at all, or hear the shower running. Then his gaze fell downwards, and his hazel orbs fell over an unconscious Adrien Agreste. He gasped, and stood in shock, staring at his friend's half clothed body, the blond only in his boxers and a loose plain light blue t-shirt. "Adrien!" Nino called anxiously, falling to his knees next to the blond's side. The teenager fumbled with his phone as he pulled it out, nearly dropping it from his trembling hands, as he dialed for an ambulance.

* * *

Adrien squinted at the bright blinding lights, holding a hand to cup over his brow. "Where am I?" He muttered.

"Adrien!" Nino cried. "Dude, I'm so glad you're okay! You should've told me that you were injured!" He then wrapped the blond in a tight embrace.

Adrien winced at the olive skinned boy's last sentence, as well as from the pressure the hug was placing on his ribs. _You should've told me_ , his friend's voice continued to echo in his ears. The phrase, _friend's don't lie to each other_ , also kept ringing through the blond's head. Adrien felt guilt pinching in his chest. His face fell downwards, and his lips formed into a frown. "I'm sorry." The blond apologized weakly and sincerely.

"What're you apologizing for?" Nino asked, his brows knitted in confusion.

Adrien looked away from the boy's face, away from his hazel eyes. "I lied to you. Friends don't lie to each other." He commented solemnly.

"Adrien..." Nino said softly, staring into the boy's melancholy eyes. "It's okay. Everyone has their secrets, and everyone has their reasons for keeping them. I'm not going to pry and force you to tell me anything, you only have to tell me if you truly feel alright admitting it, I'm not going to force anything on you."

Adrien exhaled slowly and bit his bottom lip, clenching his fist tightly, tight enough he could feel his nails digging into his skin. "Nino," Adrien started, his voice wavering. "I don't deserve to have a friend who's as kind as you. I haven't had any real friends before, so I don't know how I'm supposed to act, how I'm supposed to treat my said friends, I'm- I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do anything." Adrien admitted weakly, clenching his fist even tighter, drawing blood.

Nino gave the blond a gentle grin. "It's okay. I'll show you, you can only learn from your mistakes. Nothing new will ever happen if you don't try." He said reassuringly.

Suddenly, both of the teenager's attentions were caught by a sudden brisk knock that resounded through the room. Adrien watched closely as the heavy door slowly swung open.

A young nurse entered the room, a clipboard in hand. "Mr. Agreste, how are you feeling?"

Adrien looked to Nino, who only nodded at him encouragingly. The model opened his mouth to say something, but his mind immediately went blank the moment he met eyes with the nurse. He closed his mouth and opened it several times, but he couldn't force himself to say anything. He felt like the nurse was staring into his soul, reading him, studying him, seeing straight through him like he was translucent. Finally, Adrien decided to just close his mouth, pursing his lips. He couldn't do it. He felt like she was judging him.

The nurse sighed. "I suppose I'll take the silence as a negative thing." She then held up a small plastic clear cup with two pills inside it. "You need to take these. They'll help nullify the pain. And by no means are you in the condition to be up and about. You were brought in with three fractured ribs and a slight concussion, and you were unconscious due to internal bleeding. Mr. Agreste, please try to refrain from any unnecessary movement that could put _any_ strain on your body."

Adrien could feel his companion to his left, staring intently at him, like shards of ice pressing against his side.

 _Internal bleeding?_

"Oh, and Mr. Agreste, your father is here to see you." The nurse continued, stepping aside to reveal a tall lean middle-aged man with light hair and dark rimmed glasses. She then exited the room.

Adrien studied the man, his pupils dilating in shock, as he took in all of his features. _Father?_

"Adrien." Gabriel said firmly, turning towards his son. He then took a few steps forward, stopping as he took notice of Nino. Gabriel turned towards Nino, and in a flat tone he said, "Thank you for assisting my son. Now if you don't mind, I'd like a moment alone with him."

"Y- Yes sir." The other teenager said, standing straight up out of the bedside chair he had been sitting in, and standing and waiting outside of the room, closing the door behind him.

As soon as he heard the firm click of the door shut, Gabriel turned his gaze to the model. "Adrien, why was that boy in the mansion?"

Adrien studied his father's cold blue eyes, frowning at the harshness of his father's tone. "He's my friend, Father."

"That still doesn't explain why he was there. Why was he in your room? Why was he the one who found you passed out?"

"Because he was being considerate and bringing my work from class today to me, as well as bringing me a copy of the notes. So, I felt it would be rude to just let him leave with a simple thank you, so I invited him inside. Did I do something wrong? I was just being courteous."

Gabriel pursed his lips. "Does that boy come from a wealthy aristocratic family?"

Adrien was taken aback by his father's question. "Father, why does that really matter?"

" _Adrien_." Gabriel pressed, the firmness in voice slowly becoming more threatening.

The blond paused. "He doesn't." Adrien admitted weakly. "But why does it matter if he's a commoner?"

Gabriel's lips were pulled into a tight line, his eyes narrowed, glaring at the model. "I don't want you to be friends with that boy. He is not in your social class, therefore I don't want our name to be stained by common folk. Second, I forbid you from having guests at the estate without my approval and knowledge of their visit."

Adrien felt his jaw drop as his emerald pupils dilated. "F- Father! Why- How-" Adrien stopped himself and took a deep breath, preparing himself mentally for his father's reaction towards his next blunt statement. "Didn't Mom always say that we should judge and accept people for their character and their personality? Not by their appearance or their social class or their wealth?"

The designer stopped, almost as if the blond's words had been a blizzard that had frozen him solid. "Stop it." Gabriel said quietly, his head falling downcast. He then raised his voice and spoke sternly, "I am your Father, you will do as I tell you Adrien. And don't you **_ever_** , bring up your mother again." He then brought a firm hand against the model's cheek, slapping him, leaving a stinging red handprint across the boy's face.

Adrien's mouth was agape and his eyes grew even wider. He gingerly raised a hand to his cheek, wincing slightly as his fingers grazed the reddened skin.

Gabriel then abruptly pivoted on one foot and left the room, leaving a stunned Adrien sitting on the bed.

 _He- He slapped me_ , Adrien's mind kept repeating over and over again. _Did I say something wrong or out of line?,_ the blond wondered as he tried to replay the scene over in his head. Then it hit him. _Mom. I mentioned Mom, that's why it set him off._

The depression had hit Adrien hard, but Gabriel had taken the news even worse than the model, he'd even taken all of the pictures with her in them down (except for a large family portrait that hung in the living room) and he had moved all of her clothing and her belongings into a spare room, always keeping the door closed to keep from remembering her. But there was one thing left from his wife that he couldn't avoid completely, and that thing was his son, Adrien.

Nino slowly and hesitantly came back into the room, unsure what to expect after seeing the coldness in his friend's dad's eyes. That's when he'd noticed the blond cradling his cheek, an outline of a red handprint poking out from underneath his hand, as he sat staring wide-eyed, his emerald pupils dilated.

Nino looked at the teenager with solemn eyes, pitying the poor boy. "You shouldn't let him abuse you." Nino said in a small voice, feeling like he was intruding on something he wasn't supposed to see, walking on thin ice.

Adrien snapped out of his trance and stared at his friend. "I know. I... I just want for him to get better. I just subconsciously feel like everything will start to fix itself if I pick up the pieces and put him back together." Adrien let out a heavy sigh. "He wasn't always so cold and emotionless. He's always been pretty strict and overprotective, but at one time he smiled and he laughed, just like a normal person, but he changed once Mom died."

Nino bowed his head. "I'm so sorry... I didn't realize..."

"I only let him do these things to me so he'll be happy, so he can overcome his demons."

"And how are you doing? How are you holding up against everything?"

Adrien frowned and his gaze fell downwards once again. He couldn't say it in words, although he was sure his expression said it all.

Nino gently patted the model's back. "Well regardless, I'm always here for you man." He then shot him a small weak grin.

"Bro's till the end?" Adrien asked returning the boy's smile, holding his hand out in a fist for a fist bump.

"Bro's till the end." Nino agreed, pounding his fist against the blond's, the two laughing and getting to know each other better afterwards, Adrien totally disregarding what his father had said about Nino.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! This chapter was mostly Nino-Adrien bonding, but there you go, I hope you enjoyed. Thank you to all of you who followed, favorited, and reviewed :) Anyways, I'd love to hear what you thought about this chapter, so please favorite, follow, and review, any feedback is always appreciated.**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**


	3. Sinful, Rabid, and Merciless

_**Chapter 3: Sinful, Rabid, and Merciless**_

 **A/N: Trigger warnings: Lots of angst (*shrugs* you should be used to it by now, but I'll mark it as a warning anyway), Dark themes, and *nervous cough* Rape. If that topic makes you feel uncomfortable, read ahead with caution—I don't go into physical detail very much, it's mostly just Adrien's inner emotional trauma.**

* * *

"Adrien! Glad to see you're back buddy!" Nino chimed, waving at the blond enthusiastically as he entered the classroom.

Adrien grinned and nodded in acknowledgement towards the boy with dark hair, however, he had more pressing matters he needed to attend to. He then went up to his teacher and collected all of the homework and notes that he had missed during the duration he was gone. Shooting his friend another wave, the blond then disappeared down the hallway, stuffing the papers into his binder, then shoving the binder into his backpack.

"Woah! Hold up bro, where are you going?" Nino called, chasing after Adrien, running up from behind and grabbing onto the handle on the top of his backpack, pulling the blond to a halt, and jerking him slightly backwards.

"I have to go to a photoshoot. The company I model for threatened to fire me and stop sponsoring my father's clothing if I didn't show up today. Plus Father's been pretty adamant about me attending a shoot since I've spent so much time off of work."

"I mean that's great that your doing this to please your dad, but are _you_ okay with it?" Nino asked concerned, studying his friend's face. "You just got out of the hospital a few days ago, so are you really okay with modeling? Both mentally and physically?"

Adrien pursed his lips. "I have to. I don't have a choice in the matter, besides, all I have to do is sit still and look handsome, so I mean it can't be that strenuous can it?" Adrien asked rhetorically, beginning to break into nervous laughter.

"If you're free after the photoshoot, you should come to this bakery with us after school, we can wait for you at the park if you want?"

 _We? Us?_ "With who?" Adrien asked confused.

"Oh, me and two girls from our class, Alya and Marinette. Marinette's parents own a bakery, and every now and then her parents let us have free samples of pastries and baked goods. Trust me, their sweets are literally the best thing I've ever tasted."

The blond ran a hand through his hair. "Well... I don't know... would they be okay with me tagging along? I don't want to be an inconvenience on you guys..."

Nino waved his hand dismissively. "It's totally fine!"

"Alright, I'll text you whenever the shoot ends. See you later." Adrien said, quickly hurrying off, already a couple of minutes late to the shoot.

* * *

"I- Is the shoot almost over? I have something else I need to attend to." Adrien asked gingerly, slightly whining, slowly dropping his pose and his smile.

"Did I say we were done Monsieur Agreste?" The photographer asked sarcastically, a slight edge in his voice. "It isn't over until I have all of the photos for my magazine." He then added arrogantly, "Unless you want you and your father to lose all connections with this company. Am I clear?"

Adrien sighed in compliance. "But we've been at this for almost eight hours straight, can't I at least take a break?" The blond asked weakly.

The photographer shot him a glare. "Well if you'd of showed up to the shoots last week and the week before, this session wouldn't of been as long. But due to your absences, we need all of the photos _now_ since the next issue prints next week."

 _I was in the hospital!,_ he wanted to argue back, but he but he bit his tongue, and refrained. Adrien squeezed his eyes shut tightly and exhaled sharply. He enjoyed modeling, but he could only withstand it for so long. His jaws were beginning to ache from having to keep forcing himself to smile and hold fake facades, his stomach was growling, sending hunger pangs throughout his body that made him want to double over, and he couldn't help but to continually bounce his leg and fidget due to his undeniably growing need to use the bathroom.

"Now over there, pronto! You're wasting precious daylight!" The photographer barked, pointing his finger.

Adrien rolled his eyes and did as the man said, although very unwillingly.

"Quit fidgeting! All of the shots are blurry since you can't even sit still for fifteen seconds!" The photographer shouted, annoyed, spewing out more complaints at the blond.

Adrien bit his bottom lip. Sucking in a breath through his teeth, he forced himself to stop squirming and he held the pose through a tremendous amount of effort.

"Again!" The photographer barked. "I can't publish someone who looks like they're straining an expression! If you can't do this right, I can easily have you replaced by _Elias Kingston_!"

Adrien's figure stiffened upon hearing his rival, and former friend's name. His shoulders were tense and his lips were twisted into an ugly frown.

Elias was one of the many ' _friends_ ' that had used Adrien just for his social status. Elias' father had been a small-time unpopular music producer that his father had been acquainted with, and when Elias and his family temporarily moved to Paris, the other teen had used Adrien to create a public image for himself, using him as a stepping stone to claw his way to the top, with greedy fingers. He then went on to become a popular American singer and song artist, as well as a part-time model when he wasn't on tour, or otherwise known to the public, as France's second top male model, since his father was an American and his Mother was French.

"I can outdo him in every way." Adrien huffed defensively, furrowing his eyebrows. "Just give me fifteen minutes and I'll give you a 110%."

The photographer narrowed his eyes and glared. "You're already supposed to be giving me above a hundred percent in effort. Are you saying that you're slacking?" He asked unamused, a scowl tugging at his lips.

"Ten minutes?" The blond bartered desperately, trying to resist the almost overwhelming urge to cross his legs and and grab himself to alleviate the pressure on his bladder.

"No."

"Please, just five minutes."

"We're already behind schedule."

"T-two? _Please_ I'm begging you!" Adrien pleaded, his emerald green eyes flickering with desperation and anxiety.

The photographer crossed his arms and pursed his lips. "And tell me _why_ _I_ should give _you_ a break?"

Adrien stared him down with desperate eyes. " _Please_!"

The photographer groaned and rolled his cerulean eyes. "Fine. Go. Two minutes and nothing more, keep in mind I'll be counting."

"Th- Thank you!" Adrien called gratefully, quickly rushing off, nearly sprinting.

* * *

Adrien let out a sigh of relief as he exited the restroom. But not paying attention, he ran smack dab into another civilian, in which they were both knocked into the grass, Adrien on top of her. Groaning and clearing his head, Adrien immediately pulled himself up. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going, and I accidentally ran into you. I'm so sorry!" The blond apologized over and over, holding his hand out to help the girl up.

He let out a small gasp as his emerald green eyes were met with bright cerulean ones. The girl standing before him was sporting dark hair pulled up into two short pigtails on either side of her head. "M- Marinette." He uttered quietly under his breath, his cheeks dusting a light shade of pink.

"Oh it's totally fine, part of it was my fault-" The ravenette started, but once her eyes met the blond's, she was sent into a stuttering flustered heated mess. "A- Adrien! Wh- What're you doing here? I- I mean it's a public park, so of course you can be here- but I mean you don't look like the type who'd go to the park- It's not that I'm saying that you look like you don't go outside it's just- B- By the way you look good- I mean you always look good- Bu-" Marinette began to ramble, her cheeks passionately burning red, but she slowly cut herself off.

Adrien smiled and let out a small laugh as he watched the girl stutter and anxiously try to correct herself.

"Again, I'm really sorry I knocked you over, and since it was a pretty nasty fall, are you okay?" Adrien asked, concerned, glancing over the ravenette's arms and legs for any bruises or scuffs.

"Y- Yeah, I'm fine." Marinette reassured, waving her hands around frantically.

"Oh! Marinette you found him! Great job girl!" Alya called from a distance, her hand intertwined with Nino's.

Adrien craned his neck in the couple's direction, glancing back and forth between them and Marinette.

As Nino and Alya approached, Adrien felt his posture stiffen. He didn't want to have to disappoint his best friend by telling him he couldn't hang out with them.

"Adrien, dude what's up-" Nino began to greet, holding his fist out for a fist bump.

Adrien's gaze fell downcast, his fist clenched, and his lips a tight line. "I'm sorry, I can't. I still have work left to attend to. Bu- but I hope you guys have a lot of fun. Maybe some other time?" Then without another word, the blond left, jogging at a quickened pace in the opposite direction.

"Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie if you change your mind!" Nino called, as the group of friends watched the blond's receding form disappear into the distance.

 _God, why am I so awkward?,_ Adrien cursed himself. It's not that he didn't want to spend time with his friend, but his father's reputation was on the line. As much as he hated to admit it, Adrien had been raised to put family above all else, even himself.

As he walked back to where the photoshoot had been set up, he received a loud firm scolding from the photographer, definitely turning a few heads. He had to resist the almost overwhelming urge to cover his ears, and drown out his obnoxious voice.

This was why he wanted to quit modeling. The obsessive hours, the rude 'coworkers', and most of all, the demanding commands and orders that were constantly being barked out at him. _Don't slouch. Stand up straight. Hold that position. Look that way and don't make eye contact with the camera. Never mind that doesn't look right, face the camera. Fix your expression, it doesn't look attractive enough. Don't do this, don't do that_ , He was sick of it, it was almost like being at home while his father was sober.

Finally once everything was caught up, and the photoshoot had finished, Adrien let out a heavy sigh, afterwards turning his head skywards. The sky was filled with a various array of warm swirling colors, bright oranges, deep luscious scarlets, pastel yellows, and even a few swirls of lavender and a rosy pink. The sun was beginning to set.

Pulling his phone out and turning it on, he was surprised when he was met with a clean blank, text message free, lock screen. He wasn't sure whether this terrified him or relieved him. Was Nino mad at him? Was that why he hadn't texted him? Or was it because he had just simply forgotten? Or maybe, he was just being courteous since he knew the blond was working? Shaking his head, he let out a hesitant breath and called Nino.

Adrien listened to the long string of ringing that seemed to go for an eternity, but there was no answer, he was redirected to voicemail. "Hello. The number you are trying to reach is unavailable at the moment. Please leave your message after the beep." _Beeep._

"I- I'm free now, if you guys are still hanging out. B- But if you're not than that's fine because I can just-" Adrien suddenly cut himself off and let out out a small noise of surprise as he noticed he was getting another incoming call. Sighing, he ended the call with Nino and answered the other without hesitation.

"Hello?"

"Adrien." Gabriel said sternly. "Where are you?"

The blond's posture stiffened. "I- I'm at the park... Why? Is something wrong Father?"

"Damn it why aren't you at the house?"

"I was modeling," Adrien started slowly, cautious of his tone, careful not to sound snotty and arrogant. However he had taken notice of the designer's slightly slurred speech. "...like you instructed me to yesterday. Father, what's going on?"

Gabriel gritted his teeth and ran a hand through his hair. "Is there anyone around you? Anyone suspicious or just anyone in general?"

Adrien looked around him, studying his surroundings. "Well I mean some of the makeup artists are still packing up and there are a few civilians in the distance, but that's about it. Father, quit stalling and tell me what's going on."

Gabriel exhaled sharply. "They're coming." Gabriel said in a low tone, pursing his lips.

Adrien's pupils dilated. "What? Who's coming?"

"The murderers who took your Mother. Adrien listen to me, get to the house as soon as possible and don't unlock the door for anyon-" Suddenly the battery on Adrien's phone died, his screen quickly being submerged in black.

Adrien slowly pulled his phone away from his face, staring wide eyed at the black screen. He felt his heart beat quicken as it slammed against his chest. He looked around anxiously, frantically looking in every direction possible.

Suddenly the model paused. Was his Father being honest and rational or was he in a drunken delusional state, living in one of his own nightmares again? Something like this had happened once before, it had been the third day after his mother had been found. His Father had been borderline intoxicated and had called him while he was at school. His father had rambled nonsense at him, telling him his Mother had returned, that the same people who kidnapped her before were going to take her again. Adrien knew something had been off the minute he said that his mom had returned, he had seen her cold, pale, beaten and bruised, and _most definitely_ dead, body the day they found her, right before the autopsy.

Adrien sighed and shook his head, muttering under his breath as he shoved his dead phone into his pocket. His father was probably just drunk again, spouting slurred paranoid nonsense.

In all honesty, being at home was one of the last things Adrien wanted right now. Whenever he did go home, as soon as he stepped within the Agreste's mansion's gates, he could feel that subtle, but definitely looming presence and strictness of his father, even if the man himself wasn't there. Then there was the cold aching feeling in his chest whenever his eyes glazed over the large family portrait of his unbroken family, before the incident with his mother happened, hanging up in the living room. And the worst of all, the sudden crushing curtain of depression that fell upon his shoulders, making his appetite suddenly disappear, making his thoughts start to wander to something unforgivable, to something undoable, causing him to begin to question his existence.

He wasn't going to go home, at least not yet. He realized it probably wasn't the best idea he'd ever had, but he decided he was going to go to that bakery Nino mentioned, and he was going to hang out with his 'commoner' friends, regardless of what his father said or thought. Brushing his bangs out of his face, he slowly jogged to the park entrance, staring down the vast streets and sidewalks that loomed ahead.

So many streets, so many paths, so many decisions, so many possible wrong turns. Exhaling sharply, he started walking. Every cell in body screamed to turn back, to go back to the familiarity of the park, to wait for the familiar white limo to pull up, not to venture into the unknown, not to go diving headfirst into it. Adrenaline coursed through every vein in his body, and in all honesty, he was scared. He couldn't help but run various scenarios in his head, each one's result ending worse than the previous.

What if he got lost and was never found again since he was defenseless and essentially phoneless? What if he turned onto the wrong street and ended up being mugged because he happened to ask the wrong person for directions? What if a crazy psychotic fan was stalking him and decided to kidnap him since he was alone, and ended up tying him up in their basement, his eyes to never see the sun again? What if- Adrien shook his head.

 _Stop it Agreste. You're just being paranoid. The likelihood of any of those scenarios actually happening is a fairly low percentage._

Adrien glanced over his shoulder. The park was no longer in sight, everything he knew to be familiar, was now long out of sight. His heart sank ever-so-slightly. He was beginning to doubt himself, his previous confidence wavering. He swallowed hard and forced his legs to keep moving forward. He felt so exposed, so defenseless, so...alone. He knew he was surrounded by people on the crowded streets, the honking and the muffled conversations of others a constant subtle reminder, but he felt like he was on the other side of the glass, everyone and everything else all clumped together on the opposing side.

Looking up at the street signs, reading them under his breath, he let out a heavy sigh, and folded his arms. He was officially lost. He had no idea where he was, nor did he even know if he were heading in the vague direction of the bakery, for all he knew he could've been heading in the opposite direction.

Swallowing his pride, he slowly approached a small group of three girls, all of them staring down at their phones, presumably high schoolers like him, but he didn't recognize them from his school. The first was a girl with short shoulder length platinum blonde hair, the second with long mocha colored hair, and the third sporting a pixie cut with a striped beanie on her head, navy blue rimmed glasses framing her eyes.

"E- Excuse me, but do you know where Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie is? I'm sort of lost..." Adrien admitted weakly with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head.

Without looking up from her phone, one girl replied with an address. She then began to name directions. "First you take a left onto this street behind us, you keep going straight for two blocks, take a right, then take another right and it should be a corner shop on your left."

"Alright, thank you very much."

"No problem, it was my pleasure." The girl then lifted her eyes from her phone, meeting emerald orbs. She gasped and her face flushed, her pupils dilating as she nearly dropped her phone from shock. She quickly turned around behind her and looked at a poster advertisement Adrien had modeled for, and looked back and forth between the two to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her. "Ohmygoshyou'reAdrienAgreste!" She squealed frantically, instantly shifting from civilian mode to fangirl mode, her eyes practically sparkling. The girl's outburst caused her friends to also look from their phones with interest, the model snatching their attention.

"OH MY GOD YOU'RE RIGHT!" screamed a second girl, instantly clinging to one of Adrien's arms. The first girl, also began to cling to the blond's other arm.

Adrien's pupils dilated and his lungs began to burn. He couldn't breath, and his heart was slamming against his ribcage, threatening to burst through the barrier of bones. They were touching him. They were observing him. His mask was cracking, and his panic was beginning to seep through the cracks of his shattered facade.

He was panicking. He was hyperventilating. _Oh god, I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die!,_ his mind repeated over and over in full-blown fear, hysteria and anxiety overpowering and overwhelming the small rational, calm portion of his brain.

"Pl- Please let go." He squeaked hoarsely, desperately, as he tried to pull away from their grasp.

"Oh hell no, we can't let an opportunity like this slip away." Hissed the third, the one with glasses.

He pulled and kicked, squirming, but no matter how much he tried it was to no avail. They were taller than him, stronger than him with their combined efforts. Before he knew it, he had been dragged into a dank back alley, littered with discarded trash and shards of shattered beer bottles, the alley reeking of the scent of urine and the pricking smell of blood.

His back was then slammed into a wall, knocking the breath out of him. His breathing was heavy and frantic. There was something menacing and absolutely god damn terrifying about being held down by strangers, especially when they had that crazed look in their eyes. All three of the girls surrounding him looked like psychotic rabid animals, like they wanted to ravage him and roam every part of his body, with or without his consent, hungry... hungry for him.

"Ge- Get off of me!" Adrien yelled helplessly, once again trying to break free, but he felt like he was shackled, shackled to the wall by seemingly invisible chains, gravity crushing him beneath it's foot, like his soul and his entire being was tied down, and being squashed like an insect.

His eyes widened even farther, his bottom lip broke into quivering as he heard the cock of a gun as the brunette now held a revolver to his head. "Don't say another word. Don't get me wrong, we absolutely love the sound of your voice, but don't speak and don't resist or I may have to ruin that gorgeous face of yours."

With lustful eyes, the blonde girl slowly crept towards him, her stance reminding him of a starving leopard, ready to pounce and devour it's prey.

First it was his shirt, slowly, but surely, making it up past his hips, past his ribs. The girl then proceeded to continue to raise the thin piece of fabric up over him, pulling it off with her teeth. Her hands then began to rub over his torso in slow seductive circles, over tender bruises, over his defined abs. His breath hitched and he choked back a sob as she began to playfully rub over his golden skin, sending chills racing up his spine.

"Quick, Jaylyn, take a picture of this, I wanna remember this moment!" Cried the blonde girl who was currently harassing the model. The girl with the glasses then took the said girl's phone, pulling up the camera. The blonde then brushed platinum blonde bangs out of her line of vision, and squeezed her eyes shut, extending her tongue, to rub along Adrien's neck.

Adrien shuddered in disgust. His lungs felt like they were on fire, he couldn't breath, even though he could see his chest rapidly rising and falling at an alarming rate. He felt like he was drowning, like he was sinking, like he was dying.

He could hear the blood roaring in his ears, and he was overly aware of his rapidly increasing heartbeat. Too aware.

The next thing he knew, the girl with the glasses had taken the blonde's place, the girl who had previously been seducing him, was now holding the phone, taking pictures.

With a smirk, the girl who had been called Jaylyn, began to snake her hand towards the button on the model's jeans. In a slow, agonizing way, she dragged the zipper on the fly down, slow enough he could hear each one of the teeth click as the zipper gently grazed them and undid them.

Adrien's face fell even paler. "Do- Don't! Please don't go there! _Please_!" He begged desperately in anguish, tears beginning to roll down his pale cheeks.

The brunette clicked her tongue, tightening her grip on the revolver. "Don't resist."

Adrien looked to Jaylyn, fear and desperation flickering in his emerald eyes behind the tears. ' _Please_ _don't_ ' he mouthed, his teeth chattering, his fingernails dug firmly into his palms.

The humane look in the girl's eyes was gone, she looked feral, overcome with temptation and lust, cleansed in sin.

Soon, his hands and his feet were physically bound by duct tape, his mouth also sealed shut, his muffled screams unable to escape to the distance around him.

Jaylyn then began to continue what she had started, proceeding to remove the blond's jeans.

Adrien was exposed. He was too far too exposed. Far too vulnerable. Stripped down to nothing but his underwear.

Her hand then began to snake it's way underneath the model's waistband, into the the only area of his body he was able to keep to himself, away from the public, away from the photographers. Her hand began to invade, groping him. He was mortified. He was being molested.

Adrien yelped and kicked the girl in the guts firmly, sending her backwards, doubled over in pain. That's when he felt cold metal against his scalp. He squeezed his eyes shut and sucked in quivering breaths, choking out sobs as his cheeks were stained by salty tears, that infiltrated and blurred his vision.

 _Somebody, anybody, please, **HELP ME!,**_ Adrien's mind screamed in a desperate plea for help.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw an outline of a larger, hooded figure, a much broader figure, undoubtedly another male. All of the girl's immediately gasped, all of them but the brunette abandoning what they had previously been doing, a heavy tension filling the air.

 _Oh thank God-_

"You ladies are going about this all wrong. Let me show you how it's supposed to be done." The man said, striding past them and squatting down so he were eye to eye with Adrien.

Adrien couldn't make out any of his features, but the vibe this stranger gave off, definitely wasn't giving him reassurance, if anything he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

With a calloused hand, the man grabbed Adrien's jaw tightly, turning his head side to side so he could examine the blond's face. He then jerked Adrien forward, his grip leaving a bruise. The man then forced the model onto his feet, and within a matter of a few seconds, Adrien was shivering. He was completely naked. Adrien's breath hitched and pupils dilated even further once he'd connected the puzzle pieces, knowing what would come next.

He was screaming. His vocal cords felt raw, his lungs burned, and his vision was hazy. He kept screaming, he kept sobbing, tears kept dripping down and off of his chin. He kept screaming even though he knew no one else in Paris could hear him, tears fell even though he knew no one else could see them. The man was now straddling him after stripping out of his own pants, holding Adrien in place with a rough hand and a stern grip on his shoulder.

The man thrust and went again, and again, and again, ignoring Adrien's cries and whimpers that seeped out of the duct tape. He continued to mercilessly ravage the model senselessly.

The girl's couldn't do anything but watch with wide eyes and slacked jaws. They knew what they had been doing was wrong, but this had crossed the line. They knew this was too far. They'd never intended for anything to go this far. They all felt guilty, but they were paralyzed, they couldn't do anything but helplessly watch the boy lose his virginity, all of them stock-still from fear and shock.

Adrien began praying. Praying to gods and deities he didn't believe in, desperately calling to any greater being that could happen to be watching or listening to his cries.

That's when he was saved by a true angel. Suddenly a boy with dark olive skin, and a red baseball cap jumped in and came to his rescue, someone who heard his desperate calls and pleas for help.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM YOU MONSTER!" Nino yelled in fury, running and bringing a firm clenched fist to the man's jaw, making him stumble backwards, away from his best friend. Nino then knocked the man onto the hard concrete, bringing his fists into the rapist's sides, beating him to a bloody pulp, showing no mercy, making sure the damn bastard bled for what he had done to Adrien. For the most part, Nino was a pretty passive and easygoing person, but when someone messed with someone he cared about, he became a whole other person.

Suddenly sirens could be heard in the distance, their wails quickly getting louder, and blue and red flashing lights slowly beginning to illuminate the dark alley. Panting and regaining his self control, Nino stopped his act of violence. He then spewed a threat through gritted teeth at the group of girls, his clenched fist trembling from anger.

Redressing his friend, Nino then picked Adrien up, tying his jacket around the blond's waist to cover up the blood beginning to trail down the back of the model's jeans.

Adrien's arm was wrapped loosely around the olive skinned boy's neck for support, but Adrien could barely stand. His pupils were still dilated from shock, and his body felt numb and heavy. He was trembling and his heart was still slamming against his ribcage, threatening to crack and fracture his ribs again.

* * *

"Adrien, talk to me bro, are you okay?" Nino asked with concern, staring into the blond's hazy evergreen eyes, that were still dilated, a shade darker, hollower, and emptier.

Adrien absentmindedly nodded, but he wasn't okay. He was broken. He _felt_ broken. He was well aware of how shattered he was.

"Adrien... I'm really sorry." Nino said quietly. He gritted his teeth and slammed his fist against the wall, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "Damn it! If only I'd of left a few minutes earlier, if only I had answered your call right away, this wouldn't of happened to you!"

"It's...it's not your fault." Adrien croaked weakly. "I- I should've listened."

Nino looked at the blond with furrowed eyebrows, his eyes studying the blond's features, nudging him to elaborate further.

"I- I got a call from my Father, right in the middle of when I was leaving you a message. He warned me, he told me to go straight to the house. His sentences were slurred, so I assumed he was drunk and ignored what he said. Instead of waiting for the car, I took off trying to find the bakery myself." Adrien paused uneasily. "I- I asked those girls you saw, for directions. I didn't realize they were crazed fangirls." He began to sob, new tears beginning to fall, painting over the old tear stains that tainted his pale skin. "And- And then they-" He couldn't. He couldn't say anymore. It was too painful. He broke down again, losing what little composure he had managed to regain.

Feeling a wave of sadness wash over him, a tight pinching feeling in his chest, Nino pulled Adrien close, comforting him, gently rubbing his back and telling him everything would be okay.

Adrien sobbed into his best friend's shoulder, hiccuping as the sobs only grew louder and the shudders began to shake his whole body. Nino could feel that the model was trembling, and he could feel the emotional and physical pain that radiated off of the blond.

"I'm sorry." Nino whispered quietly, biting his bottom lip as he fought back his own tears, a pensive grief striking him through the heart, seeing Adrien in such a pitiful state.

* * *

Nino didn't know where else to take the blond, but he now found himself outside of the bakery Adrien had originally been trying to get to. He had went into a department store and had bought Adrien some different clothes to change into, but no matter how much Adrien let on, he could see how much his friend was hurting, how close the blond was to having another breakdown.

He knew Marinette and Alya were still here, but he didn't feel like it was right for their first impression of Adrien to be like this. But he also knew Marinette's parents weren't judgmental, and were about as caring and as loving as parents got. That's what Adrien needed right now; Parental love. After going through something that traumatic, he needed to be comforted, he needed to be coddled, he needed to be loved.

Nino glanced over his shoulder at Adrien. The blond was still pale and his hands were trembling so much. His eyes were still red and puffy from crying, undeniable tear stains running across his cheeks.

Closing his eyes and exhaling deeply, Nino opened the door to the bakery, and the two stepped inside. He then explained the multitude of the situation to Marinette's parents, begging them not to tell the girls about what the poor blond's soul had just been through.

Adrien sat absentmindedly on the couch, staring down at the pastries laid out in front of him blankly. He had lost his appetite entirely. Although, since he hadn't eaten at all today, with shaky hands he reached out and grabbed a cream filled doughnut. Cautiously he took a small bite out of it and forced himself to swallow. He looked down at the pastry, staring at the Bavarian cream. White. The cream was white. Sudden flashbacks of the man erupted through Adrien's brain, the pain, the emotional turmoil, washing back over him again. His pupils dilated and he gagged, quickly dropping the doughnut back onto the silver platter.

His breathing became ragged, and he felt tears stinging his eyes again. He pulled his legs up onto the cushion, and crossed his arms over his knees, burying his head into his arms as began sobbing again. He was having an emotional breakdown.

Tom and Sabine looked at each other and glanced back over at the boy with melancholy eyes. They knew his face well, especially since Mari constantly fantasized about him at the dinner table. The boy they saw crumbling in front of them, definitely wasn't the same as the boy who was posed on all of the posters that littered their daughter's walls.

Sabine gently sat down next to Adrien, hesitantly, and gingerly reaching out, patting and rubbing his back comfortingly, holding him in a loose embrace. "It's okay. You're going to be okay. This is all going to be okay." She tried to reassure.

Finally Adrien was able to stop crying, but sobs and quivering breaths still occasionally escaped his parted lips.

Once the boy had calmed down quite a bit, Sabine then asked, "Do you have a phone on you?"

Adrien sniffled and nodded slowly, pulling his phone out of his pocket and handing it to her.

She handed him a box of tissues and exchanged it for the device.

"It's dead." Adrien said hoarsely, just barely above a whisper.

Sabine pressed the power button, but just as the teen said, a low battery sign prompted the black dim screen. Luckily, her phone was the same model, so she took the charger hanging up in the kitchen, and plugged the model's phone in. After a few minutes, the screen lit up, the phone on once again.

Sighing she then turned back to Adrien. "Do you want me to call your _parents_?"

Adrien winced at her plural use. He felt like he were on the verge of crying again.

Nino sucked in a breath through his teeth. He then tapped Sabine on the shoulder and whispered into her ear. "He only has his father. His mother went missing and was found deceased a couple of weeks ago."

Sabine instantly felt a pang of guilt. "I- I'm so sorry!" She quickly apologized. "I- I didn't realize-"

Her husband, gently rubbed her shoulder. "Maybe it's best to not say anything else that could upset him, Dear. I'm sure he's in agonizing emotional pain, still grieving over the loss, and I'm sure the trauma from today isn't helping. Let's just comfort him."

Suddenly, Adrien's ringtone went off, causing almost everyone in the room to flinch. The blond instantly sprung up, subconsciously hoping it was his father calling to ask if he were okay, like a real father would. But he deflated slightly, realizing that it was an anonymous caller. Not his Father. Sighing, he decided to answer regardless. He needed something to take his mind off of what had happened, even if only for just a couple of minutes.

Everyone else slowly moved to another room, giving Adrien some privacy.

"Hello?" He answered weakly.

"Why, _hello_ Agreste. Long time no see." A voice spoke, slightly threatening and mocking.

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows, his lips curling into a scowl. "I thought I blocked you. I told you to _never_ call this number again. And I _meant_ that."

"I'm well aware." The other voice replied stiffly. "But I wanted you to be the first to know. I'm coming back to Paris tomorrow, and as approved by your by father, I'll be staying with you. I'm at the airport right now. And just so you know, I plan to overthrow you and take your place as France's top male model."

Adrien gritted his teeth. "Elias, do you know what I'm going through right now?!" Adrien said with a strained voice, filled with pain. "The last thing I care about right now is modeling, es- especially after-" his breath hitched as thoughts of the event from earlier began to replay vividly in his head, tears threatening to fall again. He bit his quivering, bottom lip. It was _because_ he was model, that the incident happened in the first place.

He heard Elias Kingston scoff from the other end of the line, and Adrien could easily picture the brunette's cold, vicious smirk. "See you in Paris, _Frog_."

* * *

 **A/N: Omg I am so sorry, Adrien my poor cinnamon roll, what have I done to you?! Sorry this chapter took so long. I had temporary writer's block for this story, so I took a break and I wrote some light hearted steamy romance for a chapter of one of my other ongoing fics, and I wrote a fluffy oneshot for another fandom, writing totally angst free for several weeks, and I guess being on an angst hiatus just made everything build up inside me and basically explode into this chapter, so when my angsty side resurfaced, it hit hard. I literally ended writing most of this chapter in one day (...When I should've been worrying about schoolwork... But I really appreciate you guys, so I wrote, and focused on getting this chapter out instead). Anyways, I'd love to hear what you thought about this chapter, so please review, any feedback is always appreciated.**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**


	4. Alone

_**Chapter 4: Alone**_

 **A/N: Once again, thank you to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed, it really means a lot^^ Anyways, I thought I'd mention this, so apparently according to Google, Frog is a derogatory term that is supposedly really offensive to French people, hence why Adrien was given the nickname 'Frog' by his new rival, Elias (To be officially introduced in the next chapter). Okay, I'll let you get to reading now.**

* * *

"Mmhm, that's right, you better of told Chloe off, girl!" Alya sassed, waving one finger as she and Marinette climbed through the trapdoor and headed downstairs.

Marinette nodded and grinned, shooting Alya a smirk. Her smile suddenly faded once they had reached the foot of the stairs. Her parents and Nino, were all gathered in the living room, their expressions grim, a heavy, almost suffocating uneasy tension in the air.

Slowly, Mari then asked, "Mama? Papa? Is something wrong? What's going on?"

Nino cleared his throat and coughed into the crease of his elbow uneasily, feeling anxiety creep up his spine, fighting back a new wave of tears that wanted to escape.

"Babe, what's going on?" Alya asked with an eyebrow raised, standing beside Marinette, her arms crossed over her chest as she studied the faces of the unspeaking trio.

Sabine turned to look at Tom, her lips a tight line, and her gaze firm. Tom looked back at her, his expression the same as hers as he gave a gentle subtle nod of acknowledgement. Feigning a cheerful tone, he then went up to them and patted the two girl's on the shoulder with a forced smile. "I just burnt the loaf of bread I was baking, it's nothing too serious," He reassured.

Marinette studied his features, staring into his leaf green eyes with disbelief. "The oven isn't even on." Marinette deadpanned, averting her gaze to the small part of the kitchen that she could see.

Tom let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, I took it out while you girls were upstairs. I was quite disappointed, since I was really looking forward to making some grilled cheese sandwiches tonight."

Mari's nose twitched. She didn't smell the aroma of baked pastries, she smelled something else. Perhaps the scent of shampoo and soap?

"Is somebody else here?" She asked nosily, trying to nonchalantly crane her neck towards the bathroom door inconspicuously.

Tom swallowed hard, his adam's apple bobbing, his mustache hairs beginning to stand on end. "Wh- What makes you say that?"

Mari turned to look at her Mother. "Mama, who's here? It's kind of late for another visitor isn't it? Are they spending the night since the shower's running?"

If there was one thing Marinette had picked up from Alya, it was her heightened sense of observation. Alya was a natural-born journalist, her senses keen to every little detail.

* * *

No matter how many times Adrien lathered his hair in shampoo suds, and no matter how much he scrubbed his skin with the soap bar, even enough to the point it felt raw, he still felt disgusting and filthy. He could still feel where the man had touched him, his skin burning like acid. His jaws, his shoulders, his waist, everywhere he had been harassed. Adrien shuddered, his breathing becoming ragged and uneven.

He bit his bottom lip, as he stood under the shower head, letting the warm water pelt his skin, his head bowed. _If I cry in the shower right now, no one will be able to see my tears, no one will see how broken and degraded I am. How disgusting I am._

He sucked in a quivering breath, clenching his fists, his fingernails digging into his palms, tight enough he could feel it drawing blood. He couldn't hold back the tears, they glided freely down his pale cheeks, the flood gates already too worn down to withhold anything anymore.

 _It's not okay. It won't ever be okay._

* * *

Brushing her Father's hand off of her shoulder, but not in an impolite way, Marinette slowly strode towards the kitchen. Just as she had suspected, no bread, no freshly baked pastries, only leftovers from earlier today that didn't sell. That's when her eyes glazed over something she knew didn't belong there. A phone, and she knew for a fact it wasn't either of her parents' or her friends', however she was all too familiar with the case.

"T- This is A- Adrien's phone." The ravenette stuttered, picking it up with shaky hands. "Wh- Why is- Why is his phone here?!"

Nino opened his mouth to say something in protest, but his voice got stuck in throat, leaving him stunned and unable to say anything.

Sabine cleared her throat, her eyes downcast and averted from her daughter's as she spoke, her tone grim. "Something... Something unfortunate occurred, so Nino brought him here-"

Marinette's pupils dilated, and she felt her mouth run dry. "Something u- Unfortunate?!" She repeated hollowly, desperately trying not to scream her words as her heartbeat began to rapidly increase. "I- Is he hurt?!" She asked immediately, begging for answers, anxious for someone to tell her what had happened to her crush.

"He's traumatized...then again, who wouldn't be after- after something like _that_." Nino replied in a low unsteady voice, shuddering at the thought.

"What happened to hi-" Mari started to ask, but she flinched violently as the said blond's phone began to vibrate and ring in her hands. The device scaring the living hell out of her, she nearly dropped it, but luckily she just barely caught a hold of it, catching it just before it went plummeting towards the floor.

The screen was lit up by a picture of the model's father, Mari's idol, the designer Mari aspired to be like, none other than Gabriel Agreste. Absentmindedly, fumbling with the phone, she answered. "H- He- Hello?"

"Who is this? Where's the owner of the phone?" Gabriel immediately demanded, his voice firm and slightly threatening.

Marinette flinched at his sharp tone, not expecting it. "Th- This is Marinette Dupain-Cheng." She stuttered anxiously.

"Where is Adrien?"

"I- He's-" The ravenette looked around at others who were staring at her, she was at a loss for words, her free hand flailing around.

"Is he at your current location?"

Marinette made a noise of acknowledgement, her cheeks flushing.

"I have a tracking app on my son's phone. I'm sending a car to pick him up now to escort him home. I'm not sure how you came in possession of his phone, but please return it to him right away."

Mari began to say something in protest, but before she could utter out any words, the designer had already hung up on her.

Marinette slowly pulled the phone away from her ear, staring at Adrien's text message filled lock screen. "H- He hung up." She muttered quietly.

She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't contain herself. Her eyes began to skim over the text messages with curiosity, gliding over every word, taking in every little dip and curve of each letter.

 _ **Gabriel:**_

( _Adrien where are you_?)

( _Adrien answer your phone_ )

( _Damn it Adrien, pick up your damn phone and quit ignoring me_ )

( _Why the hell aren't you at the house?! I fucking told you to go straight to the house, where the hell do you think you're going?!)_

( _Where the hell are you_?!)

( _ADRIEN AGRESTE ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE_!)

( _If you don't answer your fucking phone or turn your ass around, I'm going to beat your ass as soon as I get back from the showing in London. Do I make myself clear, boy_?)

Marinette was surprised, she'd always taken Gabriel to be a more civilized and dignified person, the type of person who didn't use profanity, who never wrote in all-caps, and most certainly never made any vulgar threats. Then again, the man did have a strict overwhelming presence about him, and he did seem fairly high-strung. Marinette shook the thoughts out of her head. _Not everyone acts the same when they're in and out of the public eye, plus what I'm doing is wrong. I shouldn't be reading his texts, and I shouldn't be invading on his personal life where I'm not involved._

Her eyes were then met with messages from an unknown sender, one who's number wasn't saved in Adrien's contacts.

 _ **Unknown:**_

( _My flight got a 4 hour delay, so I'm still at the Chicago airport. Ugh it'll be almost another 12 hours before I can eat eclairs_ )

( _Hey Frog, since I'm SUCH a polite guest, and not the total douche you think I am, I'll bring you back a snack from the United States. Which do you prefer, Twinkies or Pop tarts_?)

( _I'm not giving you both though, because I'm fucking starving. Honestly I feel like I could eat both the boxes rn tbh_ )

( _But Chelsea won't let me eat anything high in calories :( , because 'it could break my face out'. Ugh this is why I like doing concerts better than modeling, but I meant what I said, I do intend to kick your ass at modeling, even if you do have more experience than me_ )

Suddenly Marinette's attention was pulled away from the lit up screen as she heard the bathroom door quietly squeak on it's hinges. In the doorway now stood her crush, in baggy clothing, noticeably a size too big for him, with wet, still-dripping hair. Involuntarily, Mari cocked her head to one side. Something was out of place. The clothing looked much too...plain and...cheap for Adrien to be wearing it.

"A- Adrien brings what you here? I- I mean, wh- What brings you here?" Marinette asked, flustered and embarrassed, quickly placing the blond's phone back where she had found it.

Adrien stared at her blankly, his reaction time dulled. He knew he should've said something back, replying to her question, but his words were caught in his throat once again, making him unable to formulate a proper response. "D- Don't look at me." He managed to choke out hoarsely as he threw up his hands, shielding his face from their view. He was tainted and disgusting now, he didn't want anyone else to see him so weak and defeated.

Utterly confused, Marinette turned to Alya, who in turn, just shrugged and looked just as puzzled as her. "Adrien?" She asked slowly, hesitantly reaching out and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Adrien flinched violently, quickly stumbling out of Mari's grip, his eyes widened in fear. "S- Sorry." He mumbled dejectedly, averting his gaze, his lips pulled into a tight line.

Marinette was unaware that the model had been sexually harassed, so she couldn't help but feel her heart crumble in her chest, assuming she had done something wrong.

Shaking her head, and wiping the frown off her face, she forced herself to smile. She could tell Adrien seemed despondent and in a more melancholic state than usual, his personality, and his very being seemingly more hollow and empty, so she knew she needed to hold herself together, to stay strong, she needed to hold her composure, for Adrien.

Slowly, Marinette then added, "Your Father called..."

Immediately, Adrien's head jerked back upwards and his emerald green eyes locked with cerulean ones, his, seemingly sparkling ever-so-slightly, his lips parted slightly in surprise. "He did?" Adrien asked hopeful, almost too hopeful.

Mari nodded reluctantly, slowly handing the phone to the model, blushing as their hands briefly brushed against each other's during the exchange.

Adrien graciously took his phone from the aspiring designer, unaware of the lurking disappointment waiting for him on the lock screen. As his eyes skimmed over the texts from his Father, his expression slowly fell, the previous spark of aspiration and hope in his eyes disintegrating entirely.

Marinette felt the cracks in heart widen, on the verge of shattering. "He said that a car was being sent to pick you up..."

Adrien swallowed the hard lump in his throat, biting his bottom lip. He wasn't sure how he felt. He was melancholy, he was furious and seething with anger, and then there was this hollow feeling, building up pressure in his chest. He didn't know how to describe that emotion, it was in between feeling everything, and feeling nothing at all.

Almost as if on cue, a loud knock resounded from the bakery door, a large man in a dark suit, a light baby blue dress shirt poking out above the collar of the man's shirt, his hair dipping into long bristling gray sideburns, occasional patches of white here and there.

Stiffly, Tom then approached the transparent glass door with caution. Gingerly, he then pointed at the closed sign hanging up, offering a sheepish smile.

"I'm here to retrieve Master Agreste." Gorilla replied stiffly, gesturing with his thumb at Adrien.

Reluctantly, Tom unlocked the bakery, holding the door open, standing aside.

Adrien's expression deepened, his frown dipping down even further. He didn't want to be alone in that eerily silent estate, in fact, after what had happened, he didn't want to ever be alone again. He knew his father had forced Gorilla to come pick him up, he knew that these were after hours for the driver, therefore he knew it was out of the question to even attempt to ask him to stay. Although the body guard normally wore a stoic expression, he could sense the annoyance that resonated from him, the slight twitch of his brow, the way he kept pursing his lips.

 _I'm such an inconvenience on everyone. On Nino, on the Dupain-Chengs, on... on Father_ , Adrien thought as he nodded in compliance, slowly sulking as he walked towards the door. He turned and glanced over his shoulder, looking at Nino, "Thanks." He mumbled quietly, before he stepped outside of the bakery and slowly made his way towards the ivory limo.

Sitting down in the back, he let out a pensive sigh. He rubbed his arms, shivering, his teeth chattering. He wasn't even sure why he felt so cold, the air outside wasn't even anywhere near being considered frigid, maybe chilly at best.

"So what happened?" Gorilla asked slowly, glancing up into the rear view mirror, at Adrien's solemn expression and his slumped form.

"I don't want to talk about it." Adrien said in a low almost inaudible voice, as he fiddled with the drawstrings on the baggy hoodie wrapped around his slender form, his bangs falling over into his eyes.

Gorilla decided it probably wasn't his place to pry, to he decided not to pressure the model further since he didn't seem to have any intention to elaborate. However, he couldn't help but to occasionally glance up at the rear view mirror and steal a glance at the blond, a slight twinge of concern building in his chest. He had never seen Adrien look so hollow and lifeless, the only exception had been the day of his Mother's funeral. Pursing his lips, he kept driving.

* * *

"Do you think he'll be okay? Shouldn't he go to a hospital?" Sabine asked concerned in a low hushed voice to her husband Tom.

After the white limo pulled away, it's red taillights glowing in the distance, Marinette turned to her parents. "Mama, Papa, what was going on? Why was Adrien here?"

The couple looked at each other for a moment, their expressions grim.

"It'd be better if you didn't know, I'm sure... I'm sure Adrien would want it that way." Tom began hesitantly, his voice trailing off.

* * *

Adrien ran up the staircase as fast as his legs would let him, scared that hidden creatures in the darkness would snag his ankles and drag him back through the hell he had just experienced. Panting, he slammed his bedroom door behind him, anxiously turning the lock on it. With a quivering breath, he collapsed against the wood, sliding down it. He pulled his legs up against his chest, running his hands through his messy, tangled, damp hair. His room was too big, too open, too exposed, with too many possible hiding places for potential attackers. He didn't care if the mansion had a multimillion dollar security system, or the fact that it was probably one of the safest homes in France, he didn't feel safe. After _that_ , nothing could make him feel safe anymore.

This was one of those moments he wished his mom was still here, here to coddle him and coo that everything would be alright, embracing him tightly and gently stroking his hair, humming a gentle melody.

Picking himself up, his self esteem trailing and sagging behind him like his shadow, he went over to his bed and collapsed on it, burying his face into his pillow. Right now, he didn't want to deal with reality. He didn't want to deal with life in general right now. He was too tired, too defeated, and too helplessly alone to keep trekking through the blizzard called life. He needed a break from it, even if just for a little while. He needed something, anything to pull his mind away from everything that had escalated within the past few weeks. Now that he thought about it, everything had began to go downhill when his Mother went missing, and the downward spiral just seemed to continue to plunge deeper and deeper. Adrien wasn't sure how much more of this his sanity could handle.

He squeezed his eyes shut, exhaling slowly, pulling his phone out, he unlocked it and stared at his contacts list, his finger hovering above his father's information. He needed someone to numb the pain, to clear the haze.

Swallowing dryly, he tapped it and waited, and waited, listening to the dial tone, anxiety growing with each pending ring. His breath hitched once the voicemail greeting played in his ear.

"F- Father, please call me back." He said weakly, desperately. "I _need_ to talk to you. I need you here. Father _please_!" He felt tears beginning to sting his eyes and blur his vision. His bottom lip was quivering, his free hand tightly clasping the sheets of his bed. "I- I should've listened. Father I'm sorry." Tapping the red circle, ending the call, he violently flung his phone across the room, clenching his fist, his fingernails creating tiny crescent moons in the palm of his hand.

Standing up, he went to one of the many shelves in his room, grabbing a small folded blanket with a black cat design on it, the fuzz of the blanket was matted, the fabric already worn, the blanket had definitely been put to use. His parents had given it to him on his sixth birthday. He could remember when it was still fuzzy and had that 'new' feeling to it. He remembered being ecstatic when it had fist originally been gifted to him, and he remembered how his parents had both hugged him tightly, his mother planting a gentle kiss on his forehead. His mother had drawn and designed the blanket, while his father brought the object to life, creating it. He also remembered when he was younger when Gabriel had went to fashion showings outside France, he and his mother would make a blanket fort, complete with plush pillow walls. He longed to have those days back.

Sucking in a shaky quivering breath, he draped the blanket around himself, creating a cloak so to speak. Holding it together with one hand, he slowly walked over to where his phone now laid on floor. Cautiously picking it up with his free hand, he then continued to hesitantly open and unlock his bedroom door.

He turned and continued down the wide corridor, his padded footsteps echoing through his ears. He stopped at Gabriel's bedroom, at one time it had been his Mother's too. Gingerly pushing it open, he slowly tiptoed into the room. With his blanket cloak still wrapped firmly around him, he climbed into the bed and under the sheets, curling up into the fetal position. He was barely holding it together, hiccups and sobs already beginning to escape his lips. Anxiously, his grip tightened around his phone, his knuckles nearly white, waiting in agonizing anticipation for a phone call from his father. Desperately, he clung to the blanket, imagining he was sleeping with his mother and his father like he used to when he was younger and when he had had a nightmare. However, fate was more cruel than Adrien's make-believe delusion. In reality, there was only a sobbing, heartbroken, teenager crying himself to sleep in an empty cold bed, with a black screened phone in hand, no incoming calls destined to ring.

* * *

 **A/N: Honestly, I just wanted to linger on the angst some more *nervous laugh* This was mainly just a character development chapter, but whatever. Anyways, if you enjoyed this chapter, please review, all feedback is always appreciated, and feel free to favorite and follow my story :) Again, thank you guys for all of the support~**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**


	5. Jealousy, The Worst Kind of Envy

_**Chapter 5: Jealousy, The Worst Kind of Envy**_

* * *

Adrien was awoken by being violently shaken. His eyes quickly fluttering open, his irises were met with dark cobalt ones, flecks and swirls of a lighter cerulean staring back at him. "You're finally awake. I was growing bored of watching tv. Are you aware it's already three in the afternoon? God Adrien you're such slob, do you sleep in this late normally? And look at your clothes!" The brunette teenager leaning above him chided in disgust, shortly after, followed by a grimace. "What are you even wearing?!"

Adrien rolled his eyes, dark heavy semicircles hanging underneath them, seemingly bringing out his emerald green eyes further. "Elias. Shut up. I don't want to talk about it." The blond averted his gaze, biting his bottom lip.

"So you're a peasant now Frog?" Elias scoffed raising an eyebrow.

Adrien sat up, rubbing his temples. "Please, just shut up." His head was throbbing, throbbing with every pounding heartbeat. " _Why are you even here_?" The blond asked, his tone dripping in venom, as he slowly slid out of the blankets. As he went to put his weight on his legs, to stand up, he stumbled, his legs giving out, his knees buckling. Adrien quickly reached for the edge of the nightstand table, catching himself. He gritted his teeth, exhaling slowly. His frame ached and he barely had the strength to support his own weight.

 _I really am pitiful aren't I?,_ he thought in a derogatory manner to himself.

Elias stared at the blond's white knuckles, desperately clinging to the edge of the wooden nightstand. The brunette's smug expression suddenly fell, a slight twinge of concern stirring in his chest. "A- Adrien, are you okay?"

Once the blond had managed to steady himself, although Elias noticed that he kept shifting his weight and slightly swaying back and forth, a slightly pained expression staining Adrien's face. "Adrien." Elias started, his tone firm and serious. "What happened last night?"

Adrien bit his bottom lip, hard enough he was beginning to taste blood due to the small abrasion. He wanted to tell somebody about what happened, he wanted consolation, but at the same time he absolutely despised the idea of even whispering a word to anyone. He hated having these conflicting feelings. "Promise." Adrien said in a low, barely audible voice. He looked over his shoulder and locked eyes with dark cobalt ones.

"Promise what?"

"Promise you won't tell anyone. This time I mean it. It's serious, it's not like when we were kids and you snitched on me when I said I was sneaking out of the mansion. Do you absolutely promise? You can't tell _anyone_ if I tell you." Adrien said, dead serious, his expression grim.

Elias' posture stiffened, he wasn't used to Adrien using such a serious tone, seeing such an icy cold harsh stare. Slowly, the brunette nodded, unsure of what to expect.

"Yesterday, after a shoot I..." he paused shuddering as he recollected the events. "I was-" His breath hitched, and he could feel his hands beginning to tremble again. Quietly, he then whimpered in a low whine, "I- I was raped."

Elias' pupils dilated, his mouth falling agape. "Adrien... I'm so sorry... I- I didn't realize..." he bowed his head in shame, his bangs falling over into his face. He felt absolutely horrible for ridiculing the blond. Subconsciously, he wanted Adrien to say he was lying, to say 'psych! I got you!', but much to his dismay, that didn't happen.

"Adrien?" Elias asked, almost shyly. "Do you want me to go get my manager, Chelsea, to get you anything?"

"No." The blond mumbled hoarsely, reaching for his phone. He frowned upon seeing that he didn't have any text messages or calls from his father. Sighing as he turned his phone off and slid it into his pocket he turned to look at the brunette. "Are you going to take modeling serious?"

"I am. Just like I said Frog, I don't intend to go easy on you, I'm going to kick your ass at it." Elias stated confidently, thrusting his hip out as he gave the model a devious smirk.

Adrien scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Hillbilly." This time it was Adrien's turn to ridicule the American, so he mimicked the brunette, thrusting his own hip out with attitude. "And how do you intend to do that if you can't even speak proper French? All of your words still have an accent to them."

Elias scowled, upturning his head arrogantly. "At least I can speak French. I bet you can't speak fluent English either!" The American argued defensively.

* * *

"Adrien how are you feeling? Have you been eating well?" Marinette rehearsed to herself, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. "No...that sounds way too straightforward like I'm prying." She bit her bottom lip and and stared into her own cerulean eyes. Her cheeks flushed at the very thought of her crush's perfect features. She once again had to clear her thoughts, reminding herself of the reason why she was going to visit the model in the first place. It frustrated her that her parents still wouldn't tell her what happened to him, nor would Nino.

Mari brushed stray strands of hair behind her ears, quickly checking herself over before she decided to visit Adrien. Sighing one last final time, she placed a decorative plastic bag coated in a star pattern, into her handbag, the plastic wrap filled with an assortment of cookies she had baked herself.

"Mama, Papa, I'm going out, I'll be back in a little while." She called as she pushed open the heavy glass door, a bell chiming as she left.

She figured taking a shortcut through the park would drastically cut the amount of time it took her to get there in half.

Humming quietly to herself, Marinette strutted confidently on the wide paved path, a slight gentle smile crossing her features at the warm kindling in her chest at the thought of having the courage to give the cookies to Adrien. However, she couldn't help but feel her mouth fall slightly agape at the sight of her crush sitting by the fountain with another teenager about the same age. A brunette, notably a few inches taller, broader.

Her movements were slow and stiff. Who was that boy? She then glanced over to see a photographer a few feet away, snapping pictures at different and various angles. She slowly inched forward, assimilating into the small group of girls that had crowded around the set up. A shoot? She glanced down at Adrien. His cheeks were hollow and his eyes looked like they were a much deeper shade than normal, when she looked into his eyes she saw a turbulent sea of green flickering in desperation, a violent storm of lightning and crashing thunder.

She studied his thin frame more intently. It wouldn't be seen if you weren't looking for it, but bruises rested along his neck and on his arms, makeup dusted over them in an attempt to cover them up and conceal them. Marinette pursed her lips. Did his Father do that? Or was it a result from whatever happened yesterday?

"Closer you two, remember, wild, sexy, bold, teenage! Show the girls here that you're predators on the hunt, show them that you're champions who drink the champagne of lust, that you're the alphas!" The photographer barked, shooting a smirk at the crowd, the fangirls beginning to scream and squeal wildly.

Adrien frowned, involuntarily curling inward slightly at the words ' _predator_ ' and ' _lust_ ', his face falling slightly pale.

Elias gave a smolder, a devious, yet charming smirk playing across his features as he posed for the camera, leaning closer to Adrien, shooting a flirtatious wink in Marinette's direction.

Marinette would've been lying if she said she ignored it. Her heart was fluttering, and melting, and pounding like crazy, essentially everything _but_ disintegrating or exploding right out of her chest. She even found heat creeping up in her cheeks. Undeniably, Adrien's model partner was attractive.

She furiously shook her head, averting her gaze from this new presence. _Hold up girl, you're here for Adrien!,_ she had to remind herself. Her eyes then glazed over Adrien. She could sense he was uncomfortable, she could sense the discomfort embedded in his fake facade, how anxious he was, the trembling in his hands giving it away.

Once the shoot was over, Marinette pushed her way through the crowd. "A- Adrien!" she called, shyly shooting up a hand and waving him over.

Adrien saw her out of the corner of his eye, through his peripheral vision. He slowly moved towards her, forcing a smile, staggering. His whole frame ached with every movement. He still felt weak and unsteady, but the painkillers had helped.

"Hey Marinette." He greeted cheerfully. "What brings you here?"

He was limping. Why was he limping? Marinette looked up at Adrien, slightly seeing through the cracks of his facade. "I- I to came see you actually." She admitted letting out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of her neck. "H- How have you been feeling? Have you been eating well?" She asked concerned, momentarily forgetting about her nervousness, rummaging through her purse to pull out the bag of cookies.

Adrien's smile fell. "I've been..." He paused. "I've been doing perfectly fine." He lied, pulling another fake smile.

Marinette studied his eyes carefully. _He's lying_. Ignoring her screaming nerves and hormones, she grabbed Adrien's wrist, taking his hand and placing it gently in her own hand. "I know you were pretty distraught last night, so- So I baked you some cookies since you seemed so out of it." She smiled kindly and offered the bag to Adrien, the plastic ruffling and crinkling as she done so.

Adrien's emerald green eyes widened at her kind gesture. He felt a smile tug at his lips, a genuine one. "Thank you Marinette... I- I don't know what to say." He admitted taking the small bag from her. Adrien glanced up into Mari's bright cerulean irises, his smile growing wider, blush lacing his cheeks. "Do- Do you mind if I try one?" The blond asked sheepishly, eying down at the plastic bag filled with mini chocolate chip cookies.

"O- Of course not! I made them for you after all!" Marinette stammered, her whole face glowing red, her cheeks burning like acid.

Gingerly, the model undid the twist tie sealing the bag, then proceeding to slowly grab a cookie and pull it out.

Adrien paused slightly, studying the sweet. It was dainty and small, a crisp toasted golden brown, not over cooked or under, perfectly in between. Various partially melted gooey chocolate chips aligning the surface, even more hidden treasures to be found within the cookie.

He felt his heart flutter thinking that Marinette made these cookies especially for him. Just the very thought that it was homemade made Adrien feel slightly giddy inside, the last time anyone had made anything specifically for him with actual love and compassion, was just before his mother had disappeared.

Just as he was about to pop the snack into his mouth and take a bite, he found his fingers empty, nothing but air to compensate for the lack of the cookie's presence. A small gasp escaped the blond's slightly parted lips, his eyes widening as he inadvertently cocked his head to one side in confusion.

"Oh, is this one of your fangirls Agreste?" Elias asked swiftly, swiping the cookie from Adrien's grasp, popping the treat into his own mouth. "Mm! Oh my god this is delicious!~" He chirped happily, savoring each and every sugary, gooey, chocolate chip, the whole thing practically melting in his mouth. "Y'know Agreste, she's a real cutie." Elias cooed, shooting a flirtatious wink at the said ravenette.

Elias then graciously held out his hand, another smolder resurfacing, a playful smirk tugging at his lips. "Hello beautiful, do you mind if I ask your name? I'm Elias Kingston." He greeted Marinette, shamelessly flirting with her.

Slowly and hesitantly, Mari took his hand and shook it, a gentle smile crossing her features. His grip was firm and strong. "Marinette Dupain Cheng. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Elias shot a quick glance, at Adrien, and for the split second that they did make eye contact, he was sure a quick jolt of lightning sparked within the space between them. He smirked. "My...Marinette is such a pretty name, and your eyes... They're an exquisite shade of blue, I feel as if I I could get lost in that wonderful ocean of cerulean." He then feigned an expression of surprise. "Oh! Where are my manners? I suppose my greeting was a bit too American wasn't it?" He laughed. He then leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on Marinette's cheek. "Cheek kissing is a traditional European greeting isn't it?" He continued, feigning ignorance, using the stereotype as an excuse to purposely shamelessly flirt with her.

The brunette's bold action, had broken Marinette. She couldn't even formulate proper sentences. Her whole body felt like it was engulfed by flames, and if the immense blood rushing to her cheeks wasn't going to be the death of her, then a heart attack most definitely would. Her heart was pounding so fast she was almost indefinitely sure it would fly straight out of her chest and sprout wings.

"I grew up in the United States, and I'm a fairly popular and well known singer." Elias continued to brag. "My father's an American and my mother's French, so since I'm not on tour, I'll be modeling part-time with Adrien." He then smiled sheepishly. "So my apologies if my French isn't very clear, I'm still trying to get used to all of the customs." The brunette continued with a nervous laugh. "However, I hope we can get to know each other better soon." He purred, grabbing her hand and planting another kiss on the top.

Adrien wasn't sure why, but he felt a wave of jealousy wash over him. His heart throbbed and contacted, his chest aching with longing and envy. In all honesty, he was even infuriated. He clenched and unclenched his fist, his bottom lip protruding into a sulky pout. Pure scalding magma coursed through his veins.

He wanted to slap Elias, knocking his disgusting lips away from Mari's precious skin, but he refrained, realizing that doing so in public would stain his reputation. He gritted his teeth, trying to ignore these overwhelming feelings. He didn't understand, why did he feel like this? It's not like he had a reason to...after all, Marinette was only a friend at best. Definitely only a friend.

 _Adrien quit lying to yourself. If you only saw her as a friend, your heart rate wouldn't increase so dramatically when you see her, your cheeks wouldn't passionately burn red, her smile wouldn't light up all of Paris._

Adrien heaved a dramatic sigh. Emotions were way too conflicting and confusing for him to handle.

He glanced over at Marinette, eying back and forth between her and the other model. He furrowed his brows, unable to stop a scowl from forming on his face. Unable to hold back, Adrien kicked Elias in the shin, causing the brunette to yelp out in pain.

"What the hell man?!" Elias screamed confused, venom in his tone.

Adrien pursed his lips, swallowing dryly. What was he supposed to say? It wasn't like he had a valid explanation for his actions... Quietly, almost too faint to be heard, Adrien mumbled, his cheeks gently flushing, "Marinette made these cookies for me." He then added sharply under his breath, " _Not_ for _you_."

* * *

 **A/N: Oh? Adrien seems to be jealous. Is he developing a crush on a certain pig-tailed designer? Anyways, thanks for reading! As always, thank you to everyone who's favorited, followed and reviewed, you guys are what keep me motivated :) I love feedback, so feel free to leave a review. Until the next chapter~**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**

 **XxXxXxXxXxX**

 _ **Side Note: I'm not an organized author who already has every chapter planned out (I just come up with the beginning, climax, and the end, and I basically just kind of write and make things up as I go along, until I reach those said points), So if you have any events you want to see in this story in the future, say a particular Adrienette scene, maybe a specific event with Nino-Adrien bonding, Adrien-Elias rivalry, etc., then feel free to mention it in a review or pm. If I really like your idea, I'll incorporate it into my writing and of course, I'll credit you. Thanks again for all of the support~**_


	6. Rise Of The Black Alleycat

_**Chapter 6: Rise Of The Black Alleycat** _

**A/N: Sorry for the one month+ hiatus! I had a really bad case of writer's block so I apologize for going totally MIA. Anyways, I realize that I started this story as basically a 'No Miraculous' fic, but now that I think about it, it's harder for me to progress the plot and have action without Chat and Ladybug, so in this chapter I'm going to be adding an origin- _ish_ section so that Mari and Adrien will get Miraculous (Miraculouses? Miraculi? Anyone know the plural for Miraculous?) ...That and I just wanted an excuse to make _cat_ astrophically corny cat puns. Sorry not sorry.**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**

* * *

"Elias what the hell were you doing?!" Adrien near yelled, barely able to keep his voice steady.

A smirk tugged at the said brunette's lips. He shrugged haphazardly, something playful and defiant in his eyes. "Marinette's cute, I can't control my instincts. That's like asking a bird to stop migrating south every year, it's like telling a lion to stop pouncing and killing it's prey. It's an adrenaline rush Adrien, stopping something that comes naturally, just doesn't happen." A sly grin then shot across his features. "Flirt or delight mode."

Adrien groaned, rolling his eyes, his hands clenched tightly at his sides as he tried to avoid the overwhelming urge to punch that smug look off Elias' face. "It's _fight_ or _flight_ mode." The blond drawled in annoyance as he pulled his house key out of his pocket and inserted it into the lock.

He then glared over his shoulder at the brunette. "Leave Marinette out of this." He hissed. "She's not just some play toy. She's human, and she has feelings too. You shouldn't lead people on like that if you're just going to break their hearts and dispose of them once you get tired of them."

"Oh really? And who's to say I'm not serious about Marinette? Besides, who's feelings are you trying to keep from getting trampled? Your own or Marinette's?" Elias asked coyly, an eyebrow raised, his eyes seemingly brimming with over-confidence, his smug gaze like icicles piercing and numbing Adrien's skin.

"Elias! God could you just shut up!" Adrien snapped, fed up. Adrien was generally well-mannered and the exact opposite of short-tempered, but there was something about Elias that set him off, like he was gasoline and Elias was a lit match, causing an instant explosion, a fiery inferno just begging to happen.

"Aww did I strike a nerve Agreste?"

Adrien clenched his fist tightly, his fingernails digging sharply into his palms. His temper getting the best of him, Adrien reared his clenched fist back and punched Elias in the face.

The brunette winced, gingerly bringing his hand to his lips to wipe the blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth.

* * *

It had already been over a week since the _incident_ , but nothing could shake the lingering fear and anxiety Adrien had. His hands trembled ever-so-slightly as he swallowed his fear and stepped into the school building, but he paused on the concrete steps hearing a groan come from an elderly man. He glanced over his shoulder to see a short elderly man in a crimson Hawaiian shirt sprawled out on the concrete, who had presumably fell. Adrien quickly rushed down the stairs to aid the man. Gently the blond grabbed his cane and gingerly handed it to the man, he then proceeded to grab his arm and help the elder get back on his feet.

The man gave Adrien a small thank you, in which the blond gave a nod of acknowledgement as he once again continued up the stairs, darting into the school building.

Quietly he sat at his desk, hands folded in his lap, eyes rapidly scanning the room. He knew all of his classmates, and he knew that the guy that assaulted him and the girls that harassed him wouldn't be here, but he still had undeniable fear.

He nearly felt his heart leap out of his chest as a hand was perched on his shoulder, causing him to flinch violently and bite back a yelp. He inadvertently slapped away the hand, quickly jumping up, his emerald green eyes wide, his pupils dilated.

Nino had a slight look of hurt on his face, but his eyes suddenly widened in realization and recognition of Adrien's actions. "Oh I'm sorry bro." He muttered quietly, a feeling of guilt tugging at his heartstrings. "You've been through a lot within the past few months haven't you? Are you holding up okay?"

Adrien's breathing beginning to slow back down to normal, he slowly and hesitantly retook his seat, nodding meekly. Pursing his lips he then opened his mouth to say something, but paused, then proceeding to close his mouth again, eyes falling downcast.

"Adrien?" Nino asked slightly confused, looking at the blond boy with sincere eyes. "Is something bothering you?"

Swallowing his pride, his cheeks gently flushing, Adrien mustered the courage to look into his friend's hazel irises. "You and Alya are close since she's your girlfriend right?"

Nino nodded slowly, almost hesitantly. "Yeah... Where exactly are you going with this?" He had an eyebrow raised and a look of curiosity in his eyes.

"Since Alya's best friends with Marinette... Co- Could you help me out?" Adrien's voice nearly died down into a whisper, his cheeks passionately glowing red and burning like acid. He almost regretted his words the moment they left his mouth.

A sly smirk pulled up the corners of Nino's lips as he crossed his arms loosely over his chest. "Oh I get it now." Nino put a hand under his chin, feigning contemplation. "Hmm... Alya and I do have a date later tonight... Perhaps we could make it a double date?" He suggested, grinning cheekily, an eyebrow arched in amusement.

Before Adrien had the opportunity to reply back, his teacher entered the classroom, ordering for the class to quiet down. "Alright class, today we have a new student joining amongst our ranks. He is a transfer student from America, so please be patient with him if his French isn't fluent. His name is Elias Kingston."

Adrien groaned, rolling his eyes, having to bite his tongue.

A tall brunette then stepped into the classroom a look of defiance in his eyes, confidence plastered all over his arrogant smirk.

The moment his name left the teacher's lips, whispers immediately circulated throughout the room, more specifically from the girls. Adrien heard one shrill voice in particular; Chloe.

The said blonde girl's pupils dilated. "Sabrina isn't he like...like a famous singer?! Like more famous than Jagged Stone?! You need to GET UP. He is going to sit next to me Sabrina!"

"B- But Chloe I-" Sabrina started timidly, a look of hurt on her face, her turquoise eyes flickering with desperation.

"Now settle down class," Mrs. Bustier called. "Mr. Kingston, your seat will be in the back row next to-"

Chloe immediately shot up, a hand placed on her hip, her other hand smacking firmly onto the desk, making a direct connection between her palm and the wood. "He'll sit here next to me, Mrs. Bustier!" She declared blatantly.

"But Chloe, Sabrina already sits next to you..."

Chloe narrowed her eyes into slits, shooting a glare at her best friend, a tight unsatisfied line tugging at her lips. 'Move.' She mouthed viciously, kicking the ginger in the knee.

Sabrina let out a quiet whimper as she flinched, quickly getting up and moving to where Elias' seat was supposed to be. Sabrina sat in her new seat nearly trembling, biting her quivering bottom lip to keep from breaking down into tears.

Mrs. Bustier frowned, knowing fully well that that accounted as bullying, however with Chloe's father's position, she had to bite her tongue and just let it all slide. "Okay then Elias, I suppose you'll be sitting next to Ms. Bourgeois in the first row, across the aisle from Mr. Agreste." She said her voice a little strained, discontent clearly evident in her tone.

Nino exhaled sharply, rolling his eyes. "Chloe that girl, she has some nerve." He muttered to Adrien.

"Tell me about it." The blond mouthed back, remembering how on his first day she had attempted to put gum in Marinette's seat, laughing at how the bluenette had initially pinned the blame on him. "But Chloe's not as bitchy as she lets on, she's not really a bad person once you get past all of her defenses. Do you think Sabrina's okay? Chloe did treat her pretty harshly though..."

Nino grinned, gently patting Adrien on the back. "Dude your kindness has no bounds does it?"

* * *

Adrien glanced at the clock hanging in the center of the room above the whiteboard. Each tick forward sent almost agonizing tremors up his spine. He absolutely dreaded his next class. He ran his tongue over his dry cracked lips, his leg gently bouncing up and down in anxiety. He desperately clawed to have back each passing second, but his shoulders drooped the moment he heard the bell ring.

He bit his bottom lip, hard. Following routine, he gently placed his books into his backpack, moving slowly and carefully, taking forced small steps. Thankfully it worked in his favor that the gym was all the way in the opposite wing of the one he was currently in.

He exhaled slowly, standing at the heavy metal doors to the gym, off to the side so he couldn't be seen through the small glass windows in the door. Shakily he grabbed the handle to the gym and pulled it open. Five minutes. Five minutes late.

"Sorry I'm la-" Adrien started, but he paused and stopped dead in his tracks noticing everyone in his class huddled in the corner of the room, cheering and chanting. He slowly glanced around the room, no teacher in sight. Hesitantly he approached the group, standing on the tips of his toes to peer over everyone to see what they were all huddled around.

"FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT." Many cheered, the venomous aura rippling through the crowd of students, spreading like wildfire. Adrien glanced over to see two tall figures arguing. His eyes widened in amusement seeing a certain brunette in the middle of it. Elias and Ivan.

Suddenly he caught sight of Nino. Making his way through the crowd, towards his best friend, he gently nudged the olive skinned boy in the side. "Hey what's going on?"

"Kim teased Ivan about not having the guts to ask Mylene out, so Ivan got pissed and he saw Mylene talking to the new kid asking for an autograph, but Elias—at least that's what I think his name is—rudely and blatantly denied to sign anything for her. So Mylene broke down into tears and she ran off, so Ivan got even more pissed, _aaand_ now we're here." Nino drawled shaking his head, gesturing towards the scene. "Too bad everyone can't have a passive bro like you." Nino cooed, draping an arm around Adrien's shoulder.

Adrien's gaze quickly fell onto the broader of the two within the circle hearing his booming voice come out sharp like the edge of a knife. "What the hell's your problem?! She just wanted a fucking autograph! Are you so damn arrogant that you'll refuse to sign a little scrap of paper?!"

Elias scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest firmly. "Do I _look_ like I care? I don't sign in-person autographs if the person who's asking me looks like they crawled out of an elementary school dumpster. I mean have you seen her hair?! It's a monstrosity! It looks like she just shoved a bunch of mangled over-used pipe cleaners into her hair!"

Ivan curled his fist inwards and outwards, his fist nearly trembling from rage, his fingernails digging roughly into his palms. Through clenched teeth he then growled, " **Take. That. Back**. Take back what you just said about Mylene!"

"I'm only stating my personal opinion."

This snide remark set the larger of the two off, so in turn Ivan attempted to throw a punch at Elias, the brunette just barely able to dodge and get out of the way. Within a span of ninety seconds, fists were thrown, making contact with another's skin, and blood was shed, and tender bruises were formed.

"HEY! YOU TWO! BREAK IT UP!" The coach yelled furiously upon entering, blowing profusely into his whistle as he physically pulled the two fighting teens apart.

The coach was lecturing the two of them, but Adrien zoned out, something else intriguing and peculiar catching his attention. Fluttering gently and elegantly along the edges of the folded-in bleachers, a black butterfly, wings the color of midnight. He blinked a few times, shaking his head to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

Adrien inadvertently cocked his head to one side. _That's strange... I've never seen a butterfly with ebony wings. In fact, how did it even get in here?,_ he wondered to himself, watching it with awe and curiosity.

He watched as it seemingly landed on Ivan's massive clenched fist, and the second Ivan's fist uncurled ever-so-slightly, it slipped into his hand and was seemingly engulfed into the crumpled slip of paper clutched in his palm. Thinking logically, Adrien just assumed his eyes deceived him, presuming that Ivan had just accidentally crushed the frail creature, killing it. So he just sighed and shrugged the matter off, pitying the insect.

Adrien flinched slightly, feeling the bottom of his backpack vibrate and hearing a quick buzz noise. Remembering he had thrown his phone into his backpack, Adrien began to dig through it, rummaging past the books and binders. Finally clasping his fingers around what felt like the curved corners of his phone's case, he fished out what he thought was his phone. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion seeing that instead of his phone, it was a small black box in the shape of a hexagon, intricate designs in scarlet decorating the top.

"What's this doing here?" He thought aloud. Curiosity getting the best of him, he slowly cracked open the lid of the box. However he immediately closed it after a bright neon green light started emanating from within it, shining brightly through the cracks. Looking around to see if anyone saw, he held the box firmly, quietly and casually slipping into the locker room. Once inside, the door closed behind him, he decided to pull the lid of the box off entirely. The bright light near blinding him, he momentarily squeezed his eyes shut.

Once the light faded, Adrien slowly opened his eyes, a gasp escaping his lips as his eyes fell upon a small cat-like creature hovering in front of him. Jet Black fur, impossibly neon green eyes. "No way... It's like a genie and a lamp!"

The small creature spoke. "Big deal! I'm way more personable! Plagg. Nice to meet you. _Ooh_ , swanky..." Plagg said pulling out an object from Adrien's open backpack.

"No! Don't touch that! Come back here!" Adrien yelled, beginning to chase the kwami.

Plagg continued to disregard the blond's words, continuing to snoop and hover. "Ohh! So shiny! Can you eat this?" Plagg thought aloud, attempting to take a bite into Adrien's phone. "No, you can't. Ooh, what about this?" He said grimacing, dropping Adrien's phone as he began to pick at another object.

Adrien quickly dove to catch his phone, just barely managing to catch it before it crashed to the ground.

Shoving his phone into his pocket, Adrien exhaled slowly. Lunging, he managed to catch the bouncing ball of fluff between his hands. "I still don't know what you're doing here."

"Look, I'm a Kwami. I grant powers. Your's is the power of destruction, got it?"

Adrien nodded slowly in thought.

"Good. Now, you got anything to eat? I'm starving!" Chimed the kwami.

"My father's pranking me, right? Wait, he couldn't be. He has no sense of humor." Adrien deadpanned quietly to himself.

"Your father must never know that I exist! Or anyone for that matter!" Plagg interjected.

"But how am I going to be able to be a superhero? Father barely even lets me go to school! A superhero who's practically imprisoned in his own house!"

"No good. That's why it's all going to change soon. If you're willing to change, that is."

Adrien grinned, nodding thoughtfully.

"Claws out! That's how you transform." Plagg began to explain.

"Got it. Plagg, CLAWS OUT!" Adrien yelled enthusiastically, eager to see what awaited him.

"No, wait! I haven't finished explaaaaaiiiiiing!" Plagg yelled, forcefully getting sucked into the ring on Adrien's finger.

With a bright flash of neon green light, Adrien then found himself in a tight leather cat suit. Adrien glanced down looking at his hands. "This is so cool!" He exclaimed his seemingly almost neon emerald eyes sparkling.

Suddenly he heard a loud crash as the floor seemingly shook beneath him, shortly after a few screams and shouts followed. The blond's cat ears twitched upwards in enthusiasm. Almost meekly, he slowly strode out of the locker room, slowly peering and turning around the edge of the corner. His face fell slack jawed seeing a large stone golem-like creature tearing the down the concrete foundation of the building, causing the wall to collapse and give, creating a gaping hole that lead outdoors.

He felt adrenaline rushing through his veins, like the floodgates had been released, his heart pumping solid adrenaline instead of blood. He felt compelled to chase after the golem, he felt his feet moving forward on their own without him even thinking about it. Guessing at it, he then attempted to propel himself forwards and upwards with his newly acquired baton, but he failed on multiple occasions, tumbling to the ground with each failed attempt. Eventually, after what felt like the fortieth try, he finally managed to propel himself to the roof of a building.

Smirking wildly, he then decided to test his skills even further, creating a 'tight rope' between two buildings. He balanced himself starting to walk across his extended staff. "Hey I'm starting to get the hang of this." He said, smiling to himself.

He then saw a quick flash of red and black, and the next thing he knew he was tangled up in some sort of string, another masked heroine hanging alongside him. "Well hey there." He said managing a slight wave. "Nice of you to _drop_ in."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't do it on purpose." The heroine in scarlet exclaimed, apologizing, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

"I assume you're the partner my kwami told me about? I'm... Chat Noir." He paused for a moment considering the name, it had just instantly fallen out of his mouth without him even thinking about it. "Yeah, Chat Noir. And you?"

"I'm madl-" She started, attempting to retract her yo-yo to untangle them from the string, however the spotted circular part ended up hitting the blond on the head. "Madly Clumsy." She finished, sighing. "I'm so clumsy."

"No sweat, clumsy girl. I'm learning the ropes too." He said with a cheesy smile, twirling his baton between his fingers.

Chat quickly turned his head, feeling the ground tremble beneath him, a few seconds later a building crashed and collapsed into nothing more than rubble. Instincts kicking in, he began to sprint towards the wreckage.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Ladybug yelled, watching the cat dash off.

"To save Paris!" Chat called back, extending his staff to throw himself forward, to get to his destination faster.

* * *

Adrien sighed, plopping onto his bed, closing his eyes. Dreamily, he then murmured, "She's perfect isn't she Plagg?"

"Who? The hero in red?" The kwami replied stiffly, hovering above a platter of food, sifting through it.

"Yeah she's so strong and beautiful and-"

"I can't eat this!" The kwami declared, crossing his small arms, pouting. "I need something more refined and delicate for my palette."

Adrien slowly sat up. "Like what?"

Plagg licked his lips hungrily, nearly drooling at the thought of his precious beloved. "Cheese! Camembert to be more precise."

Adrien grimaced in disgust. "Camembert?" He repeated, slightly in repulsion. "You're kidding right?"

"No way Kid, I eat Camembert and only Camembert."

"Camembert cheese. Fantastic. All he eats is Camembert, which means I'm gonna smell like pungent old fermented cow milk." Adrien groaned under his breath. He then held out a small chunk to the kwami, holding it by the tips of his fingers, holding it out almost like it were radioactive, like if he touched it any further, it would corrode his fingers off. Adrien scrunched his nose in disgust as the putrid smell burned his nostrils.

He watched as the kwami practically inhaled the piece of cheese. He stuck his tongue out in disgust, shaking his head in disapproval. He glanced over at his phone, hearing it buzz and vibrate.

He skimmed over the text on the lock screen.

 **Nino** : _Hey, I talked to Alya and she's all in for a double date. She also talked to Marinette, Marinette's coming too. Are you still in dude?_

Adrien swirled his fingers above the keyboard for a moment, thinking in hesitation, side-glancing over at Plagg as the kwami stuffed himself.

 **Adrien** : _Yeah sounds great! Where will we be meeting at?_

 **Nino** : _We're going to this super swanky restaurant in downtown Paris. Dude like what am I supposed to wear? I don't even own anything formal, the most formal thing I have in my closet is a bright canary yellow Hawaiian shirt that's a size too big. And I'm pretty sure wearing a hoodie and denim jeans into a fancy restaurant like that, that'll scream 'Hey I'm a peasant'._

Adrien snickered at Nino's text.

 **Adrien** : _Dude relax, if you want I can lend you one of my suits from my last modeling shoot_.

 **Nino** : _Man you're seriously a lifesaver! Bro, can I marry you?_

 **Adrien** : _As much as I'd enjoy that, you wouldn't want to set Alya off. She's scary when she's angry_.

 **Nino** : _Gotta agree with ya there. I guess we'll just be platonic lovers, no homo. See you in a few~_

* * *

Adrien laughed at Nino attempting to make a stab at a joke. He smiled at seeing how happy Alya made his best friend, but occasionally he found his own eyes wandering to Marinette. She looked absolutely stunning in her shimmering chiffon pink gown, covered in sequins, practically making her shimmer.

Clearing his throat, his cheeks coated a light shade of red, he complimented smoothly, "Marinette you look really nice. And that dress, it's stunning! Father would definitely applaud the seamstress' work."

Marinette blushed, grabbing a handful of the ruffles of lace on her dress to keep from squealing from excitement. "A- Actually I designed and made the dress myself." She said with a nervous laugh. "I've always enjoyed fashion ever since I was child." She admitted, rubbing the back of her neck, her face heating up even more.

Adrien's eyes widened in astonishment, he let out a low whistle, raising his eyebrows. "You made that yourself?! That's quite an accomplishment! In fact it looks just as good as some professional designers' work."

Alya gently nudged Nino in the side with her elbow. In a low voice she then whispered, "Would you look at those two? A designer and model, it sounds almost like a fairytale doesn't it?"

Nino hummed quietly to himself. "That's debatable. Not sure if I wanna give up my boy Adrien to Mari. Y'know we're already platonically married, me and Adrien, not so sure if I'm fond of sharing him." Nino teased, which in turn Alya rolled her eyes, gently kicking her boyfriend in the shin in a playful manner.

Alya then proceeded to pull her phone out of her purse, a wicked smirk across her lips, her eyes with that dead-set journalist look. "Not to brag, but I captured those two new heroes in battle! And I was even able to snag a video!"

Both Adrien and Marinette tensed at hearing those words from their friend's mouth.

She then pulled up the video on her phone. "The dynamic duo, Ladybug and Chat Noir." She gave a confident grin. "I created the Ladyblog to dedicate anything and everything about these Parisian heroes to the public." She then flashed a signature salute. "So I'll be reporting akumas right on the spot, there to capture every moment of action."

"A- Alya isn't that dangerous? Being at the scene near a dangerous villain?" Mari choked out, fear striking her heart at the thought of something happening to her best friend.

"Thrill of the hunt Mari!" Alya chimed proudly.

Suddenly the group's attention turned to an angry customer and a waitress. Shattered plates and shards of glass mixed in with squashed food on the carpet. "I- I'm so sorry Miss! I- I just tripped and then-" the waitress stuttered anxiously, looking like she were on the verge of tears.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting?!" Growled the customer, clearly seething with anger.

"I'm s- So sorry ma'am I- I'll go get something to clean this up!" The waitress then hurried off, speed-walking past the group's table.

Adrien caught her mumbling words under her breath as she walked past. Her breath was shaky and near quivering. "Damn... why can't I do anything right?"

Adrien watched her with careful eyes. He watched her trip over her own feet, and he swore he saw a tear or two glide down her cheek. Within a few moments he saw a black butterfly phase through the wall, wings as dark as midnight, just like the one he'd seen flutter near Ivan before he transformed. The butterflies couldn't be a coincidence. After fusing into the waitress' name tag badge, the butterfly disappeared and a magenta butterfly shape outlined the woman's face. Within mere seconds, the waitress transformed, throwing the restaurant into chaos and disarray.

"Yes! It's an akuma!" Alya exclaimed, pulling up the camera on her phone, beginning to record.

Almost simultaneously, both Adrien and Marinette got up to excuse themselves to the bathroom. Thinking nothing more of it, the two dashed off in opposite directions to a solitary area to transform.

"Plagg! Claws out!"

"Tikki! Spots on!"

* * *

 **A/N: Well I managed to draw away from the extreme angst for once, aren't you guys proud of me? Anyways, I managed to get this out just before my birthday, January 11th in case you were wondering (Turning 15 ;P). I know it's kind of late, but hope you guys all have a wonderful 2017! As usual, thanks for favoriting, following, and reviewing, and like I mentioned in the previous chapter, feel free to shoot me up with any ideas you want to see, and I'll try to make it happen eventually if I'm fond of the idea. See you next chapter!**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**


	7. Perfection Built Upon Flaws

_**Chapter 7: Perfection Built Upon Flaws**_

 **A/N: I was inspired to write, so here ya go. An update only a few days apart, shocking right? So since I didn't post a chapter in December, having two (possibly more, depending on how inspired I am) chapters in January, should make up for my absence last month :) Enjoy!**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**

* * *

Elias curled up on the sofa, pulling his legs in closer, nuzzling into the pillows and cushions. He glanced up from his phone, hearing heels click down the marble hallway. "Adrien?" He called slowly, turning his phone off as he awaited for the rapidly approaching figure to come into view.

Instead of a blond haired teen with piercing emerald green eyes, instead he was met with icy blue, almost steel gray ones, the gaze sharp and venomous, glasses framed around the set of cold eyes. Elias let out a small gasp of shock. "G- Gabriel?"

"Elias. Where is my son?" The designer asked, his tone stern, near monotonous, however the brunette could sense a slight edge to it.

"I... I don't know." He admitted, shrugging. "Why? Did... Did Adrien do something wrong?"

Gabriel pursed his lips, unamused. Readjusting his glasses, he cleared his throat. "That is a personal matter between my son and I."

Elias' dark cobalt eyes fell downcast, strands of hair falling into his face, as he bowed his head slightly in shame and embarrassment. He wasn't sure what it was, but something about Gabriel seemed different from the last time he had visited the Agrestes, the man seemed more distant and cold than he remembered, a mere remnant of what he had been like a little over six months ago. It was like the radiance of joy that used to emanate from the designer had been sucked out of him completely, leaving something venomous and numbing. Now that the brunette thought about it, for the short duration that he had been here, not once had he seen the Mrs.

"Um... Mr. Agreste?" Elias asked almost hesitantly, his voice weak. Gabriel slightly raised an eyebrow to signify he was listening. "If I may ask, where is Mrs. Agres-"

"You listen here," Gabriel said sternly, narrowed eyes locked onto the teen's, his lips twisted into an ugly scowl, his demeanor doing a total 360. Gabriel gripped Elias' forearm tightly, causing the brunette to wince, the man applying pressure to one of the tender bruises he had acquired from the fight. "YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT HER!"

Elias flinched at the designer's sudden change of tone, his pupils dilating as he inadvertently backed away out of instinct. "I- I'm sorry for asking sir." The brunette choked out weakly, his voice almost a whisper. His ego nearly died down entirely in his throat.

* * *

"Plagg! Claws out!"

"Tikki! Spots on!"

Chat casually strutted out of the bathroom and into the dining area, assessing the multitude of the situation. Then out of the corner of his eye he spotted a familiar figure in red. A playful smirk tugged at his lips. "My Lady." He greeted, bowing. "You look _paw_ sitively stunning, if I may say."

Ladybug rolled her eyes, letting out a melodramatic sigh. "So what are we working with?" She asked, twirling her yo-yo rapidly in a circular clockwise motion.

Almost as if the akumatized victim had heard Ladybug, she then screeched, "I am Calamity! I'm tired of having to suffer through my mistakes, so I'm going to make others suffer instead!" Calamity had an apron wrapped around her, the metal name tag badge glinting, her transformation extremely similar to the waitress uniform she had been wearing previously. Her hair was now up in pigtails on either side of her head, going down just slightly past her collarbones, her blonde hair streaked with blue on one side, and a reddish-pink on the other, in a Harley Quinn like manner. She then formed a plate out of mid-air, tossing the porcelain at civilian bystanders, unleashing an ominous cloud of misfortune when the glass shattered, affecting anyone within a four foot radius. She would also occasionally pull an unwrapped straw to her mouth, crumpling up the paper that went around the straw into a ball, shooting them out like spitballs. If one were struck by the spitballs, they'd fall unconscious, being trapped in one of their own hellish nightmares.

A devious smirk pulled at Chat's lips as he and Ladybug leapt into action, careful to dodge the spitballs and to avoid being near where the plates were thrown. "Looks like she'll have to _dish_ out a lot of apologies after this battle."

"I'm pretty sure the akuma is in her name tag, but I don't know how we're going to get close to her without being affected by the misfortune fumes emitted from the plates..." The heroine in scarlet trailed off, deep in thought, her eyes scanning the room, totally disregarding the fact that Chat had just made a pun.

"I volunteer as tribute." The leather clad cat boy announced, stepping forward proudly, puffing his chest out confidently. He'd always wanted to say that.

Ladybug stiffened. "No Chat you can't! Give me a second and I'll come up with a plan, because what if-"

Chat then interrupted her mid-sentence as he rashly dived head-first into battle. "I mean I already have the Miraculous of bad luck, so it's not like my karma could get any worse."

"Oh does the feline want to play?" Calamity called, a smug grin tugging at her lips. "Why don't I give you a ball to entertain yourself with?" She then pulled a straw from the pocket on the side of her apron, proceeding to shoot a spitball at the hero.

He quickly threw his baton up defensively, twirling it rapidly in front of him as a shield, the small piece of paper ricocheting backwards, his staff deflecting it. "As fun as that sounds, I think I'll have to pass you up on that of _fur_. But I'll _tip_ you for your courteousy." He then lunged at Calamity.

"I got it!" Ladybug called. "Chat, get rid of all of her straws and rip the name tag off of her uniform and toss it to me! I'll keep her busy!"

Chat glanced over his shoulder and sent a nod of acknowledgement in his partner's direction.

Rapidly dashing forward while Calamity was focused on dodging Ladybug's yo-yo, Chat slid underneath her and quickly plucked out all of the straws from the deep pouch, then proceeding to stomp them, bending the frail plastic, rendering them useless.

"Why you little pest!" Calamity hissed, then throwing a plate down at her feet, spreading the misfortune fumes.

Chat coughed and fanned the dark inky violet cloud of magical smoke away from him. He blinked slowly and looked down at himself, he didn't feel any different. He glanced back up at Calamity, seeing her eyes wide in shock and her mouth hung agape.

"Wh- Why are you not..." She stuttered and trailed off, slowly backing away from the still standing feline.

Chat smirked. "I guess being the Miraculous wielder of misfortune has it's perks." He then scrambled forward and lunged at the pin on her shirt. Ripping it off, he then tossed it to Ladybug.

Ladybug caught it with one hand. Throwing it to the ground, she then stomped it, breaking the badge, causing a small black butterfly to fly out of it.

"No more evil-doing for you little akuma," She then twirled her yo-yo capturing it. "Gotcha!" After purifying it, a pristine delicate ivory winged butterfly gently fluttered in the wind. "Bye-bye little butterfly." She called, with a faint wave. She then threw her yo-yo up in the air and yelled, "Miraculous ladybug!" With that, a swarm of ladybugs cleansed and reverted all damage done by the akuma.

Chat smiled, strutting towards his Lady. "Pound it!" They both called simultaneously, bumping their fists together.

* * *

Adrien hummed happily to himself, thoughts of his Lady and Marinette in his head, as he stood at the front door of the Agreste mansion, key in hand.

Turning the lock, and opening the door, he gently closed it behind him. He took a few steps forward, but he stopped almost dead in his tracks. "F- Father?" He mumbled aloud, somewhere between astonishment and fear.

Gabriel stood at the foot of the steps, arms crossed firmly over his chest, fingers thrumming impatiently against the other arm. Adrien felt an uneasy feeling building in his gut. Something about the scowl that Gabriel wore and the way his eyes remained calm even though you could see the storm brewing inside them, scared Adrien. He began to think the misfortune fumes from the akuma earlier had seeped into his pores, deciding to shove bad luck into his face at right this moment.

"Where were you?" The designer asked sternly, the rest of the mansion seemingly dead silent. "You know damn well that unless you have a photoshoot or an after school event pertaining to one of your extracurricular activities, you are to return to the estate immediately after school dismisses."

"I just went out with some friends." Adrien mumbled quietly, unable to meet his father in the eyes. He was sober, for once. It was probably only because Gabriel hadn't been able to drink much while he were on the business trip, Adrien observed. Anxiety beginning to coarse through his veins, the blond nervously fidgeted, twiddling his thumbs.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes, the storm within them seemingly growing more violent. "And last week, why did that girl have your phone, and why didn't you return home until it was after midnight?"

Adrien looked up at Gabriel, his bottom lip quivering, his breaths beginning to become ragged. "Father I- I was assaulted. I- I tried to call you, and I texted you, but you never replied back." His voice died down into a hoarse whisper. _When I needed to hear your voice, when I needed consolation from you, you left me alone_ , he thought.

Adrien wasn't sure what hurt more, the almost suffocating silence and the tension, or the calloused judgmental gaze his father was assessing him with. He couldn't stop his hands from trembling, no matter how much he willed them not to. This silence was slowly killing him, slowly corroding his insides, he wanted Gabriel to do something, to say something, _anything_ to ease his conscience.

"You've neglected your responsibilities as well." The designer said harshly, tight-lipped. "According to your fencing instructor you've skipped the last two practices, and one match. Your grades are slipping in science and language arts, down to 98's, and the chefs have notified me of your lack of intake in calories."

Adrien swallowed the hard lump in his throat, his heart beginning to pound loudly in his ears, too loudly.

"You're a damn failure! You're mother would be ashamed of how pathetic you've become. Damn insolent child!" Gabriel growled, drawing his hand back and slapping Adrien, leaving a red stinging handprint across the model's cheek.

The blond flinched, wincing internally at the comment his father had made about his mother. That snide remark had hurt him even more than Gabriel's hand. He was used to the physical pain, but his mother was still an open wound, guzzling blood, and those words had just shoved the knife deeper.

"I'm sorry." Adrien whimpered, biting his bottom lip, hard enough a coppery metallic taste began to fill his mouth. "I'm sorry for being so incompetent, I'll try harder to strive for perfection." He felt tears sting the corners of his eyes, but he vowed he wasn't going to cry in front of Gabriel, he wasn't going to expose more vulnerability and weakness to his father. Vulnerability and weakness showed flaws in perfection, creating hairline cracks, eventually leading to the splitting of shards altogether, shattering the concept of perfection entirely. He couldn't let that happen, he needed to be perfect. He wanted more than anything, for his father to praise him and be proud, and in order to achieve that, he needed perfection. Bottling up his emotions, he held up his fake facade, disguising the cracks, hoping the superglue would hold for just a little bit longer.

"Damn disgrace to the Agreste family name." Gabriel muttered under his breath, shaking his head, intentionally ramming shoulders with his son as he strode past the model, his feet leading him into the room with the minibar.

 _Not here. Not here. Not here_ , Adrien had to keep reminding himself internally, telling himself not to break down until he were in the safety and solitude of his own room. Gabriel's words stung. A lot.

Adrien slammed his bedroom door behind him, letting out a shaky quivering breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He threw himself onto his bed. He pressed his face into his pillow, letting his mask shatter entirely. He clenched the pristine white sheets in his hand tightly, holding back sobs that threatened to escape his lips.

Plagg hovered over the teenager, pity collecting in his heart. His chosen needed some time to himself, Plagg would respect that, seeing the state his kitten was in. Quietly, he floated over to the small collection of scarves clumped on Adrien's desk, nuzzling himself within them, casually munching on a slice of Camembert.

The model's pupils dilated and he froze stiff, hearing a small gentle knock on the door. "Adrien? I overheard what happened between you and your father... Are you okay?"

"Go away." Adrien called through the door. He was not in the mood to put up with Elias' ego right now.

"That's almost like an invitation all in itself." The brunette sighed, leaning his head back against the door. "But I'll respect your privacy."

Adrien paused momentarily, sitting up. "Wait," he said unsteadily. "You can come in."

Gently the door creaked open, emitting streams of light from the hallway into the the darkness of the blond's room. "I figured you'd change your mind." The brunette said thoughtfully, gently pulling the door back shut behind him. Even through the darkness, only the moonlight to illuminate the blond's face, Elias could still make out the dark imprint of a hand on the blond's face.

Elias slowly sauntered over to the bed, sitting alongside Adrien on the mattress. He looked at the blond with melancholy eyes. "How long has he been like this?" He asked quietly, gingerly tracing the outline of the print across the model's cheek with his index finger.

Adrien winced slightly at the touch. He exhaled slowly, leaning back, surprisingly not pushing the brunette away. "A few months." He said grimly, drawing his legs in close to his chest. "He's... He's different now."

Elias leaned against Adrien, his head throbbing and his bruises burning like hell. "I noticed that your mother hasn't been around, and when I brought it up to Gabriel, he threatened me. Does his change in attitude related to your mother in any way?"

Adrien's muscles tensed. "Yeah..." He mumbled, his gaze falling downcast, golden strands of his bangs falling over into his eyes. "It all came in stages. Denial. Grief. Resentment. Regret. All after my mother went missing and was found dead a few weeks later. The funeral is what made reality come crashing down on him, so he turned to alcohol as an outlet."

Elias nodded slowly and subtly. "I'm sorry." The brunette said slowly. He gently ran a hand through the blond's hair, stroking the silky softness. "I know my impulsiveness can lead me to do and say some rash things, and at times I can be a complete and utter jackass, but even I can see you're hurting. You shouldn't bottle up your emotions, if you need to talk, I promise I'll always listen."

That's when Adrien crumbled, inadvertently he unconsciously wrapped his arms around the brunette and held him close. Right now, he needed a support, he needed an anchor, and right now, Elias was that convenient threshold he needed. His fingers dug firmly into the American's shoulder and Adrien's defenses, his walls, his intricate and carefully constructed facade, all fell away entirely. Tears seeped their way through Adrien's tear ducts, trailing down his pale cheeks and dripping onto the other teenager's shirt. His shoulders shook and small sobs and hiccups escaped his parted lips, he let all of the sorrow drain from his system, all of the anxiety, all of the emotional turmoil, everything he had been holding in. Even if at times he hated Elias more than anything, if there was one thing the rivals knew they could rely on each other for, was their imperfections, they could see the hairline cracks in one another's facades, they knew they didn't have to pretend to be perfect around each other.

Adrien was just so tired of having to pretend to be so damn perfect all of the time. He was far from perfect with all of his flaws, he hated how everyone always put him up on a high pedestal, saying how the Agreste family was the epitome of perfection, but that was because nobody ever looked beyond the curtains, to see what lied deeper within.

* * *

With red puffy eyes, Adrien slowly pulled away, his head bowed in shame and his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "T- Thanks, I needed that."

Elias smiled gently, rubbing his hand through the blond's hair again. "Never thought I'd see the day Adrien Agreste the model look like such a mess, in such disarray." The brunette teased gently, lightly nudging the blond in the side.

Adrien couldn't help but laugh slightly, a weak grin tugging at his lips. "Don't get cocky, you don't exactly look like a top model at the moment either." Adrien retorted back, taking notice of the dark bruise around the brunette's right eye, a black eye, seemingly bringing out the flecks of cerulean in his dark cobalt irises even more so. Adrien smirked, "You seriously look like hell after that fight you had with Ivan, I doubt even ten layers of concealer could cover that up." The blond noted, gently rubbing his thumb along the bottom of Elias' black eye.

Elias winced, then proceeded to cross his arms over his chest curtly. "Well hellish or not, I doubt either of us look good with bags and dark circles under our eyes, Frog."

At the brunette's comment, this pulled Adrien's eyes over to the digital clock in the corner of his room. 2:45 am. However, smugly, he retorted, snickering, "Dark circles and bags will make you look like you have two black eyes."

Slowly, standing up and stretching, Elias slid off the bed. "I'm going to bed, don't stay up too late Agreste." The brunette called over his shoulder as he began to start towards the door.

Adrien watched him grow farther and farther away from him, closer and closer to the door. Gritting his teeth, Adrien reached out and grabbed the brunette's wrist. Mumbling, barely audible he whispered, "Don't go. Please stay. I don't want be alone in this darkness." He whimpered, his emerald green eyes flickering with desperation and anxiety.

Elias rolled his eyes, sighing. "Fine, but making me sleep on the cold hard floor is cruel. Scoot over Frog."

Curled up, back-to-back, under sheets, Adrien whispered, "Thank you. I'm sorry for being such an inconvenience."

Elias yawned, "You're not an inconvenience, just don't make this a regular habit. Jackasses need their sleep too y'know."

Adrien sighed contently, it was nice not being tangled alone in cold empty sheets. He found comfort in the heat that radiated from the other teen, and being wrapped in warm sheets gave him a sense of safety and solace. He felt protected against the demons that lurked and pounced in the dark.

That is, until he heard a loud crash of glass shatter onto the floor, slowly followed by another thunderous slam, loud riotous yelling and a stream of curse words following shortly after, as they continued to hear crash upon crash. The haunting sounds reverberated up the staircase and through the closed door. Almost instantaneously, the two models shot bolt upright, immediately pulled from the lull they had been drifting towards. They both turned and looked into each other's widened bewildered eyes, panicked and fear-ridden.

Gabriel.

* * *

 **A/N: So what'd you think? I love feedback, so feel free to favorite, follow, and review. So I know you're probably confused about how I'm portraying Elias—One minute he's a total dickhead, and the next he's all caring and supportive—While yes, he is Adrien's rival, they are still childhood friends, so naturally he still cares about the wellbeing of Adrien. So in a sense it's kind of a platonic love-hate relationship. Anyways, thanks for all of your support! It really means a lot to me.**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**


	8. Demons

**_Chapter 8: Demons_ **

**A/N: As usual, thank you guys for all of the continued support! You seriously have no idea how happy it makes me to check my mail app on my phone and see emails from . I appreciate every favorite, follow, and review (especially all of my lovely reviewers), but I'd like to give a shoutout to _WindrissQuinn_ and _Ketsui Tasogare_ , for reviewing on the last few chapters and making me feel accomplished with my writing. Anyways, enough with my rambling, I'll let you get to reading now.**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**

* * *

Adrien jolted straight upright upon hearing multiple almost deafening crashes echo from downstairs, a stream of curse words following, the voice belonging to someone all too familiar. He turned and noticed Elias was wide awake now too, the two teenagers locking eyes, seeing their own panicked bewilderedness reflected in one another's eyes.

"Was- Was that your Dad?" The brunette asked slowly, taking a quick glance over at the closed door. "That sounded pretty bad..."

Adrien clenched the sheet and curled it up tightly in his palm. He didn't want to go downstairs. He didn't want to confront Gabriel again, but then there was the 'good-natured hero' part of him that kept nagging the back of his mind, telling him that in order to be the perfect, responsible, son he longed to be, he _had_ to go down there.

"I- I should go check on him." The blond commented nervously, shivering as he left the warm embrace of the blanket, as the the cold air of the room washed over him. "Sometimes he drinks a little too much and he has some violent drunken episodes." Adrien swallowed dryly, rubbing his sweaty palms against his pants.

Elias quickly shot up alongside the blond, remembering how Gabriel had hit Adrien while he was sober. He shuddered. He didn't want to imagine what could happen, considering that the boy's father was full-on drunk now, especially since he wasn't in his right mind of judgement at the moment. "I- I'll go with you." He stated bluntly, pretending to play it casual, but _nothing_ about the situation was _casual_.

A smirk played across Adrien's lips. "Aw Eli are you scared of the monsters under the bed?" He teased, crossing his arms with a triumphant smirk plastered across his face. Truthfully though, subconsciously he was glad Elias was coming with him, although he'd never dare to admit that.

 _Speaking of monsters, I wonder how he would react seeing Plagg... his snoring and his stench would be enough to scare anyone away_ , the blond thought, internally scoffing, as he stole a glance at the small clumped pile of scarves his kwami had nestled himself in.

The two teenagers slowly crept down the stairs, wandering the halls with padded footsteps. The closer they came to the room that contained the minibar, the louder a man's muttering seemed to get.

Adrien meekly peered around the doorframe, trying to peak through the small crack of the door, trying to survey the damage before he entered into the minefield of glass and broken furniture.

He couldn't quite make out every word, but it appeared almost as if his father were speaking to someone else, but Adrien eyed the designer's phone on the counter.

"Nooroo- _hic_... Useless... Akumas... Not devastating enough... Not enough power... Pests." Gabriel muttered viciously, his back turned to the two teenagers behind the door, Adrien only able to pick up bits and pieces of the designer's rambling.

The blond model's ears perked up at the word 'akumas', those were the black butterflies that caused chaos. He furiously shook his head, doubt clouding over his mind. _He's probably just angry because one of the akumas probably destroyed one of his warehouses or one the factories that produced his clothing, so production isn't as high as it should be_ , Adrien tried to convince himself, letting the thought sink into his brain, refusing to speculate further.

Swallowing the hard lump in his throat, and biting his bottom lip, he gently pushed open the door that had already been slightly ajar. The first thing he noticed was the onslaught of shards of glass scattered around the room, each glinting and reflecting the light, letting their presence be known. Around some of the shards were puddles of various different colors, some a dark blackberry, others a warm honey amber; discarded alcohol. Adrien scrunched up his nose in disgust at the acrid smell, the scent seemingly soaking up all of the crisp oxygen. Then there was the broken bar stool laying on it's side in a puddle of alcohol, the seat section snapped off, laying a few feet away from the base. Then his emerald orbs darted over to the open doors that lead to the cellar, where all of the hard, vintage liquor and spirits were kept. Those doors generally remained closed. Adrien felt a shiver creep up his spine, and he felt anxiety give him a small kick to the gut.

Adrien approached slowly, cautiously, careful to avoid the piles of glass, wincing occasionally as he felt a small pinprick stab at the underside of his foot, Elias trailing behind him.

"Father are you talking to someone?"

Gabriel tensed, his muscles going stiff as his fist unconsciously curled tighter against the shot glass in his hand. He watched the small blur of lavender he had been speaking to, dart and cower behind one of the few unopened wine bottles on the shelf behind the minibar. The designer moved, turning in a slow circle to face the voice addressing him. "The hell do you want? Damnit can't you let me drink in peace?!" He snarled.

Adrien flinched back slightly at the harshness in Gabriel's tone. "I'm looking out for your wellbeing Father, I don't want you to get alcohol poisoning. You shouldn't overwork your liver so often, if you're not careful you'll get cirrhosis." The blond warned, casually moving closer to the designer. "Father you need to drink some water, you need to stay hydrated."

"Do you know who you're speaking to boy?! This is my damn house and I'll drink as much as I damn want to!"

Adrien sucked in a breath through his teeth, knowing fully well what he was about to say was going to set Gabriel off, considering _she_ were part of the reason why Gabriel was drinking in the first place. "Mother wouldn't want you to drink. She still wouldn't approve of it even if you only did it in moderation."

He heard a snarl rip from Gabriel's mouth, which was currently twisted into an ugly venomous scowl. Adrien closed his eyes and waited. Waited for Gabriel's anger to explode, waiting for the sensation of pain he was all too familiar with to wash over him.

"Why you- You little shit! How dare you bring her into this!" Gabriel slurred, stumbling forward and lunging at the model, knocking Adrien down into a pile of glass. Adrien hissed in pain, sucking in another breath through his teeth as felt shards pierce his skin.

The blond teenager yelped as he felt Gabriel bring a swift kick to his side, causing him to curl inward. Gabriel then sneered, "You fucking worthless mistake! If it weren't for your Mother's endless kindness and consideration, we would've had you aborted, but she objected against the idea!"

Adrien's eyes went wide, his mouth hanging agape as his breath left his mouth. _A mistake? I'm a mistake?!_ He felt his world crumbling and collapsing in on itself around him, like he had been living in a fish tank and the pressure had finally been too much on the glass, causing everything the fish had ever known, to be washed away in an instant, in a fragment of a second.

Gabriel then proceeded to step on Adrien's ankle, pressing all of his weight down onto it. Adrien let out another sharp cry of agony, his body reacting out of instinct, but for right now, the only thing he could focus on were the last words Gabriel had left hanging. ' _We would've had you aborted._ ' The words played through his head like a broken record, an infinite echo bouncing off the cavernous walls of his head.

Gabriel continued to pummel Adrien, lost in a bewildered drunken delusional state, however the teenager seemed to lack any emotion, just letting everything crash around him and swallow him whole.

"GABRIEL STOP IT!" Elias yelled, intervening, pulling the designer off of the French model, restraining him. "Chelsea! CHELSEA!" The brunette called in anguish for his manger, struggling to hold the designer back.

* * *

Adrien knelt at the floor, scooping up the shards of glass with his hands, gently scrubbing the floor with a sponge to clean up the alcohol. The blood from his cuts swirled and mixed with the water in the bucket at his side.

Elias crouched down next to the blond, watching his almost robot-like movements. "Adrien?" He asked turning to look into the blond's dull emerald eyes. "Come on, you need to get patched up, the wounds will get infected if you don't pull the glass out." He said grimly, eying the model's bloody palms. "Just let the housekeeper clean this mess up."

"No." Adrien croaked, continuing to scrub the linoleum floor. "I've always cleaned up the consequences of Father's actions. None of the staff can know what Father does. I have to be a good, responsible son, so he'll praise me." Temporarily he paused, looking up and turning to lock eyes with the American. "I have to pick up all of his broken pieces and put them back together like a puzzle. Once Mom left... she took all of the thread that stitched and held him together with her, along with his heart and his emotions. It's- It's been hard." Adrien admitted through gritted teeth.

"Adrien stop." Elias commanded, looming over the blond.

Adrien ignored him, continuing to scrub the floor like his life depended on it.

Elias repeated himself, placing a hand on the model's shoulder, causing the blond to flinch.

Adrien turned and looked at Elias with determined eyes, but deep down, the brunette could see the pensive fear Adrien was harboring deep within. "He _needs_ my help."

Biting back a sharp remark, Elias knelt down alongside Adrien, which in turn earned a quizzical look from the blond. "If you insist that you have to clean this up," He sighed rolling his cobalt eyes. "At least let me help you out."

"Elias you don't have t-"

"Shut up Agreste." Elias stated coldly, scoffing. "I'm being courteous. Don't take it for granted."

Adrien's emerald green eyes widened as he watched the brunette grab another sponge, dipping it in the bucket of soapy water, continuing where he himself had left off.

* * *

Gabriel paced back in forth in his office, running both of his calloused hands through his aging hair. He then pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling sharply, the scent of alcohol staining his breath. Sloppily and sluggishly, he rummaged through one of the drawers on his desk, pulling out a picture frame, nearly knocking all of the other items on his desk off in his drunken state. "Oh how I miss you." He sobbed, gently tracing the jawline of the woman in the photo, tears dabbing at the corner of his eyes, his hand then rubbing over her golden honey locks. "I drink to forget, but I always remember." He murmured, clenching his fist and gritting his teeth. He pounded a fist against the hard wooden surface of his desk, causing the frame to clatter to the ground, a crack surfacing on the thin glass pane protecting the photo. "Damn it all!" He yelled, his angry, furious, resolve dying down into a whimper as the alcohol in his system finally began take its toll, causing him to slump over and collapse onto the cold surface of his desk.

"Oh Master..." whispered a small lavender creature, tattered wings fluttering as he hovered over his chosen, looking over him with pitied eyes.

* * *

Adrien winced as Elias turned his hand palm up, a pair of tweezers in his hand, a trash can sitting idly by. The brunette squinted, gently pulling out the shards of glass from Adrien's palms with precision.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" The American model said flatly, frowning in disgust at the bloodied shards.

Adrien sighed pensively. "I know."

"Your kindness and consideration disgusts me." Elias continued to deadpan, clicking his tongue in disapproval. Elias then pushed the blond's hand away from him. "There, I'm done. All of the glass should be out." The brunette leaned back, stretching, closing his eyes. "Oh my god it's already past 4 am." He groaned. "My complexion is going to suffer substantially because of this incident."

Adrien bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry I got you all tied up in this mess..."

Elias halfheartedly shrugged. "It's better than you facing this by yourself. I wouldn't of become famous without your family's help, so the this is the least I can do."

Adrien pursed his lips, his eyes momentarily flicking upwards to meet cobalt ones that shimmered with a cerulean essence. Adrien sent him a small nod of acknowledgement.

Exhaling slowly, Elias strutted towards the blond's bed, plopping down on it and curling inwards, clutching his chest.

"H- Hey! What- What're you doing?!" The blond asked, eyes widening, his head slightly cocked to the side in confusion.

"The offer for accompanying your bed was available earlier, so I'm willing to take it now. Look at this as payment for me dressing and cleaning your wounds." The brunette mumbled into the pillow, his eyes closed. "It's _too_ far and I'm _too_ tired to go back to my own room. Why the hell is it _all_ the way on the other side of the mansion anyway? Do you know how _far_ away that is?" He complained.

Adrien sat with his legs curled up against him, his ankle throbbing, as he glanced down at the gauze wrapped tightly around his hands. He glanced up at the brunette, watching the gentle rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. Sighing, Adrien climbed over the other teen, and nestled himself into the sheets, syphoning the heat from the blanket that Elias had already created.

Adrien hadn't realized how tired he was until he collapsed onto the mattress, his head limply lying on the pillow. His eyelids drooping, pulling with the weight of lead. It didn't take long for him to give in to sleep.

* * *

Adrien groaned feeling something fluffy and ticklish running underneath his nose. Sneezing, he groggily opened his eyes, it taking a moment for his vision to settle. There was something warm, on his face. Slowly, he wriggled his arm out of the tangle of blankets, and reached for where the warmth was originating from. Sitting up slightly, he then felt his hand brush against something soft and furry. Reaching, grabbing the scruff of his neck, he then held a groggy kwami up, Plagg groaning in protest, tail flicking in irritation.

" _Kiiid_ it's too early, go back to sleep." Plagg whined.

"Plagg why were you sleeping on my face?" Adrien asked quietly, still blinking the sleep out of his eyes. Suddenly his eyes widened, realizing he wasn't alone in his room after feeling the sheets shuffle. His face visibly paling, he uneasily turned his head in the direction of a certain brunette.

"Kid he's out cold, the phone in his pocket has been going off like crazy for the last hour or so, so if he didn't wake up for that, I doubt he'll wake up over a little chitchat."

Adrien eyed Elias wearily, letting out a sigh of relief seeing the brunette's eyes closed and his chest rhythmically rising and falling. However, the way the other model's face was contorted in pain, set Adrien at unease.

"Plagg, you said his phone's been going off all morning?"

The small kwami nodded, letting out a sigh of discontent.

Gently, Adrien pulled the brunette's phone out, clicking the home button to turn it on. The screen was filled to the brim with missed calls and text messages from the other's manager, Chelsea. For a few seconds he glanced back and forth between the phone and the brunette.

Almost as if on cue, frantic, hurried knocking came from the door. "I'm sorry to disturb you Adrien, but have you seen Elias? He was found missing from his bedroom this morning- And he has ran away on a few occasions in the past- And his parents would kill me if they knew he were missing and I-" Chelsea drew a steady intake of breath, regaining her composure. "Have you seen him at all since last night?"

Curiously Adrien looked away from the door at the brunette at his side. _He's attempted to run away before? But why...?_ Suddenly his attention was snapped out of his thoughts, hearing the urgency in his rival's manager's voice.

Sparing Elias some embarrassment, Adrien gingerly got up, and strode over to the door, wincing as he placed weight on his ankle. Just slightly cracking the door open, leaning against the doorframe, he then replied swiftly, "Yes, no worries, I just saw him recently, so I can assure you he's fine."

He physically saw her face instantly wash over with relief, as she let out a gentle sigh. "Okay, thank you Adrien. You have no idea how thankful I am to hear that."

Adrien gave her a sheepish smile and a nod of acknowledgement just before he closed the door.

He glanced over at Elias, studying and assessing him silently, but in turn he was met with piercing blue eyes.

"Was that Chelsea?"

Adrien eyed him carefully, nodding slowly. Adrien crossed his arms firmly, eyes slightly narrowed. "Okay, Mr. Confident and Mr. 'My ego's big I'm gonna suffocate you with it', I believe an explanation is due."

"What're you talking about?" The brunette asked, pretending to feign ignorance.

"She said, and I quote, 'He has ran away on a few occasions in the past'. So what's that about?"

Elias pursed his lips, he then rolled over onto his side, back turned to Adrien, unseen by the blond, his hand clutching painfully at his chest. "I don't want to talk about it." He mumbled dejectedly.

"Come on Elias tell me. You know about my alcoholic, abusive father, and you know about what happened to me in the alleyway, so spill. It can't be that bad right?" Adrien tried to urge, his interest genuinely piqued.

Elias bit his bottom lip, which had begun to tremble. With his free hand, he clenched the sheet up in his palm. He felt hot persistent tears stinging his eyes, begging for release. But he wasn't going to cry. He was not.

Adrien sensed the brunette's reluctance. "Eli? Is something wrong?" He gently sat at the edge of the bed.

Elias drew in a sharp breath, exhaling coming out shaky and ragged. "A few months ago, I was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia. I've always dismissed the occasional bouts of pain and the fatigue as overexerting myself, but there was one episode during a concert, where the pain was so unbearable I broke down in front of all of my fans and the show had to be cancelled. That day it was a sickle cell crisis. That's when I was taken to a hospital, and-" His breath hitched. "And they diagnosed me with anemia." He paused. "According to the doctors, mine is one of the more severe cases. I- I already have organ damage due to the deprivation of blood and oxygen flow. And I didn't realize this, but apparently I've been a frequent sufferer of acute chest syndrome." His breath hitched again. "So- So, many organs in my abdomen have already taken a substantial amount of damage, primarily my lungs. They've predicted I won't even make it to my twenty-first birthday."

Adrien stayed silent, taking a moment to process everything and let all of the brunette's words sink in, his face grower paler and his grim expression deepening.

Elias then continued, "I act like I'm arrogant and brave and confident, but Adrien I'm fucking terrified." He whispered.

Suddenly everything began to click for Adrien, all of the pieces finally coming together. Why he had abruptly wanted to move from the states so he could model with Adrien, why he had such a playboy attitude towards girls, why Elias had previously attempted to run away, why his manager was so insistent on finding him, why his parents were so worried, it all made sense now.

The brunette clenched the sheet curled up in his palm tighter. "I moved back here because I felt awful for using your status to help myself, and I started modeling again because I wanted an excuse to hang out with you since I knew you'd hate me. I'm interested in Marinette, and I flirt shamelessly because I've never had a girlfriend, and I don't want to die alone. I stroke my own ego to hide how scared and anxious I really am, and I've tried to runaway before because I don't want to hurt or inconvenience anyone else. Everything I've done recently is to just make my web of lies even more intricate. I've wandered too far into the net of expectations, and I didn't leave any breadcrumbs behind."

"Elias..." Adrien whispered, almost breathlessly, his pupils dilated in shock. Without even thinking, Adrien pulled the American into a tight embrace, catching the brunette off guard. "As long as we get out of the forest together, I'll sprint in blindly with a handful of breadcrumbs, and we'll find our way out of hell together."

A weak smile fell across Elias' lips, the blond's gentle touch of stroking his hair, numbing his anxiety. "As long as the breadcrumbs come from a certain pig-tailed designer's bakery." He added thoughtfully, earning a laugh from Adrien.

"Don't count on it, I won't be sharing those crumbs, they're far too precious to be sprinkled on the ground." Adrien shot back playfully, a small competitive part of his heart taking the reigns. "But I promise you won't be wandering the forest alone, I'll be right there, alongside you."

* * *

 **A/N: Choo Choo! All aboard the fluffy angst train again. This chapter was mostly revelations and bonding, but I hope you enjoyed. I absolutely love feedback, so please review, favorite, and follow. Until next time!~**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**


	9. Can You Hear My Heartbeat?

_**Chapter 9: Can You Hear My Heartbeat?**_

 **A/N: Oh my God, I can't even function right now. This story has reached over 50 followers! You guys have no idea how happy that makes me! As always, thank you so much for all of the support!~ This is a longer chapter than usual, so sit back and enjoy. Also I have finals coming up at school, so it may be a while before I post another chapter.**

 **Side note : _So I realize that since this story is slightly au, my timeline and some of the events don't match up with canon material, so please bear with it. (I'm just an angsty teen who doesn't know what she's doing. So please accept my incompetence)_**

* * *

 _Greet. Smile. Serve. Repeat. Greet. Smile. Serve. Repeat. Greet. Smile. Serve. Repeat._

Marinette sat idly at the bakery cash register, thrumming her fingers against the countertop, boredom slowly crushing her petite frame. She didn't know how long she'd been sitting here doing this. She was to attend to customers while her parents were in the back baking more bread and more pastries before 'rush hour' occurred. Marinette heaved an over-dramatic sigh, resting her chin on the crook of her elbow as she leaned against the counter.

Her stomach growled loudly as she exhaled sharply in defeat. Sabine scolded her when she did this, but right now, Marinette was starving, and priorities came before logic. Getting up from her stool, she silently crept over to the tray lined with croissants, gingerly plucking one for herself. She let out a hum of delight as she bit into the bread, closing her eyes and savoring the flavor.

Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest, the moment she heard the familiar chime the bell above the door gave, signaling a customer. Quickly, she shoved the remainder of the croissant into her mouth, trying to chew as quickly as humanely possible. Hastily, she then darted back behind the cash register. With her mouth still half full of bread she stuttered, "Welcomf foo..." Her cheeks flushed, hearing how ridiculous her voice sounded. She swallowed the rest of the bread. "Welcome to Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie." She greeted with the most considerate smile she could manage, pretending the customers just hadn't caught her stuffing her face with baked goods.

The pig tailed designer's pupils dilated, her bright bluebell eyes widening. Suddenly the heat in her cheeks seemed to double in tenfold, her face glowing an even deeper shade of red as she caught two teenage models staring at her, their smiles forced unnaturally upwards as she heard snickers escape their lips. The two desperately tried to stifle the laughs that threatened to bubble out of their throats.

"A- A- Adrien and... And El- Elias?!" She stuttered, dumbfounded, desperately wanting to curl up underneath the counter and run away from this embarrassment. Now more than ever, she wished the heat from her cheeks would corrode her skin and melt her into a pile of goo. However, much to her dismay, unless an akuma did that, the probability of that happening was extremely low.

Clearing her throat, Marinette then attempted to speak properly, but she still couldn't shake how jittery the tone of her voice sounded. She wanted to mentally slap herself for making such a fool of herself. "I can what get you? I- I mean, what can I get you?!" Marinette stuttered, waving her hands around frantically.

Adrien spoke up first, and Marinette felt like her heart was going to beat right out of her chest when he shot her a smile so genuine and adorable, it would make a unicorn cry at how fragile and precious his pearly white smile was. "Do you have any cookies? Those ones you baked for me before were absolutely delicious, I'd be delighted if you could bake some more for me sometime." Adrien then smiled sheepishly at her, rubbing the back of his neck as his own cheeks flushed slightly.

"O- Of- Of course! I'll make some for you anytime you want." She replied, returning his smile as she let out a nervous laugh. "Right now though, there's some cookies over there in those boxes by the window." She said, pointing to the corner of the store.

"Alright, thank you."

Marinette then turned to the brunette, but she felt butterflies form in her stomach when she realized he had been assessing her. His cobalt eyes casually scanning her figure, and her facial features. "And for you?" She managed, her voice not coming out a stuttering wreck for once.

Elias let out a gentle hum as he casually glanced around the bakery taking in the pastries. With a smirk upturning his lips, he then pressed his elbows against the counter, leaning forward, closer to Marinette. "Are you an option?" He asked, his voice steady and unfaltering, smooth like silk.

Marinette opened and closed her mouth a few times to say something, but no words came out, only sputtering choking noises. Inadvertently, her pupils dilated and her eyes grew _even_ wider. She didn't think it was even humanely possible for her face to burn any brighter, but her face flushed _even_ deeper, now almost mimicking the color of her suit. She had to mentally remind herself to breathe, because right now, her heart was pounding so fast against her ribcage, she felt like she had just run a marathon. "I- I-"

Elias felt his heart throb ever-so-slightly. With that kind of reaction, it only made him want Marinette even more. He managed a fake smile, noticing how uncomfortable the designer was, with how she was fidgeting and shifting her weight. So he pulled away, returning to a normal standing stance. "J- Just kidding." He said weakly, letting out a nervous—more embarrassed than anything else—laugh, but he hadn't been kidding, he'd meant it. "I'll..." he paused. "I'll just take breadcrumbs."

Marinette inadvertently cocked her head to one side in confusion. "Breadcrumbs?" She repeated with uncertainty, her brows knit together. "...You want _breadcrumbs_...?"

Elias flushed realizing just how idiotic that request sounded. However he nodded slowly, unable to meet the ravenette in the eyes, due to his utter humiliation.

Adrien cupped a hand over his mouth to keep from bursting out in laughter once it dawned on him why the brunette wanted breadcrumbs. He recalled his own words now; _'As long as we get out of the forest together, I'll sprint in blindly with a handful of breadcrumbs, and we'll find our way out of hell together._ ', and he could hear Elias' reply echoing through his head in compliance, ' _As long as the breadcrumbs come from a certain pig-tailed designer's bakery._ '

Almost hesitantly, Marinette grabbed a transparent plastic bag and strutted over to one of the trays containing the loaves of bread. Gently, she shook the tray, causing all of the crumbs to fall and gather in the corner. Scooping up the crumbs, she then dumped them into the bag, the plastic crinkling as she done so.

Adrien shot Elias an amused smirk from where he was standing. In a low voice, too quiet for Mari to hear, he teased the brunette, "Who's the peasant now?" To which, in turn, the American rolled his eyes at the Parisian.

As the bluenette tied a twist tie around the bag, sealing it, she turned to the brunette model. "And you're sure this is all you want?"

Elias could tell her gaze was quizzical, uncertainty and confusion laced into the tone of her voice. "Yes, I'm sure."

Pursing her lips and sighing, Marinette rang up the cash register for the two teenagers, the two proceeding to pay.

They all turned to the brunette as a ringtone started to go off, an electric guitar riff. Elias inclined his head towards them, stepping outside of the bakery to take the call, handing off the bag filled with breadcrumbs to Adrien as he made his way out the door, his phone already pulled up to his ear.

Marinette and Adrien followed his figure with their eyes, until the door gently shut behind him, the small bell giving a little jangle. Mari then turned to Adrien, desperately trying to wipe the dopey grin off her face. "So what is he going to do with the breadcrumbs? He's not going to be Mr. Pigeon all over again is he?" She asked with a giggle.

Adrien smiled sheepishly, managing a weak laugh, as he shuddered remembering how horribly his allergy had flared up that day. "I don't know if I could survive another akuma like that!"

 **X~X~X**

Elias bit his bottom lip, chewing the inside of his cheek, curling and uncurling the fist of his free hand. "What do you mean? It's today?! I thought you said it wasn't until next week?!" Elias argued, exasperated.

He paused listening as his manager attempted to coax him with a reassuring tone, but it didn't help to calm his nerves.

"I haven't even touched my guitar since I've gotten to Paris or touched any of the chords or practiced or- Or anything!" He exclaimed, letting out a sigh of frustration, running a hand through his hair.

He paused again, letting out another frustrated sigh. "Alright, I'll find a way to make it work. Although, would it be possible to get two free front row seats?"

 **X~X~X**

"-And it turned out I got all of the Chinese words in the wrong order and I accidentally cussed him out without meaning to." Adrien told Marinette, a sheepish smile coming across his features, as Mari and the blond's laughter filled the small bakery.

The bell above the door chimed again, causing the model and designer to look up.

"How would you two like front row seats to the concert at the Eiffel Tower later? I think Jagged Stone and XY are supposed to be performing there later too."

Marinette's eyes lit up, her smile growing even wider.

"I can get you backstage passes too, if you're interested in meeting someone." Elias continued with a wink.

Adrien felt a small surge of jealously bubble up within him, but given how happy Marinette looked, he didn't want to ruin anything for the bluenette.

* * *

Marinette spun around slowly, taking in all of the costumes, all of the panels and dashboards for special effects and lighting, and the whole atmosphere of being backstage. She watched as makeup artists frantically hurried about, touching up makeup on one of the artists or readjusting hair. Just the whole idea of this setup and the thought that she'd get to meet Jagged Stone again, one of her idols, made her giddy with excitement.

Adrien followed silently behind her, seeing her amazed expression made a slight smile upturn his lips. Her eyes sparkled with wonder and awe, like sapphires glinting and reflecting rays of sunlight. To him nothing was new, everything looked relatively similar to what a photoshoot setup was like, the only difference being that here, everyone was more frantic and hurried. Although, for Mari's sake, he pretended to be just as interested and just as awestruck as she was.

"S- So Marinette, who are you excited to see tonight? XY? Jagged Stone? Or...maybe even _Elias_?" There was a slight bitterness in his tone, mentioning the brunette.

The ravenette grinned widely, her cheeks flushing. "Definitely Jagged Stone. I admire the raw impulsiveness that comes from his music. He actually recommended me to design his latest album cover." She admitted sheepishly, a light shade of pink coating her cheeks. "Do- Do you like Jagged's music?" The designer asked, realizing she was beginning to ramble.

"Yeah, his music is spectacular." The blond agreed. "M- Maybe someday you could show me how to design stuff like that?"

"Love I'd to. I- I mean, I'd love to!" Marinette quickly corrected herself in a flustered manner. She didn't understand how it was physically possible for one person to make her heart beat so fast.

Adrien grinned, nodding. After some playful banter between the two, Adrien excused himself to speak to one of the makeup designers, an old acquaintance from one of his shoots.

Marinette rested her back against the cold stone wall, letting out a content sigh. "Tikki, I feel like my heart's going to explode!" She murmured giddily as she reached into her bag and stroked the head of her kwami, who in turn giggled.

"Jagged, could you please just sign the damn thing! I need it for a friend. _Please_?" Marinette overheard a young male voice argue from within one of the dressing rooms, the voice oddly familiar.

She then heard another, deeper male voice scoff, presumably Jagged. "Elias Kingston, _begging_? Never thought I'd see the day that happened. You've sunk to a new all-time low haven't you?" He mused.

Elias bowed his head in embarrassment, his cheeks burning like acid. "Shut up! It- It's for a girl I like!" The brunette countered defensively.

A smirk pulled at Jagged's lips, as he let out a hearty chuckle. "I suppose all's fair in love and war." He admitted, sighing as he rolled his shoulders back, contemplating taking the sharpie from the teenager and signing the poster. "Fine. Hand it over." Jagged said under his breath, holding his hand out to take the poster.

Elias' eyes widened as he hesitantly held the poster and the sharpie out, watching the felt tip glide against the glossy finish, listening to the marker squeak as Jagged signed his name.

"Who should I make this out to?" Jagged asked looking up, swinging the sharpie between his index and middle finger.

Elias paused momentarily. "M- Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng." He stuttered nervously.

Jagged hummed thoughtfully as he wrote out a short message. "She's the designer bakery girl isn't she?" The rock star shortened her name down to 'Mari DC' as he continued writing a message. "I believe I had her design one of my album covers."

Elias then took the poster back and carefully rolled it into a cylindrical tube, holding it together with his hand. "Thanks." He mumbled, beginning to strut out of the rockstar's dressing room.

Marinette's pupils dilated, her bluebell eyes widening in disbelief. Had she heard that right? Surely she couldn't have imagined the whole conversation, right? The brunette's words echoed through her head again, and again. ' _Shut up! It's for a girl I like... Marinette Dupain-Cheng._ '

Turning the corner from the doorframe quickly, Elias nearly ran smack dab into the young designer, but he managed to pull himself to a halt before they collided. "M- Mar- Marinette how long have- Have you been standing there?" He asked, his voice barely audible as his face went red, and his hands began to tremble.

"I- I just got here." She lied, forcing a wobbly smile, that she hoped was convincing.

The American nodded, unknowing that she had overheard everything. "Well... I- I got you something. I recall you said you liked Jagged's music... So- So I got him to sign this poster and make it out to you." He said, a nervous laugh following shortly after. _God, why am I so nervous?! And my hands...they're trembling so much, I hope she can't tell how anxious I am_ , the brunette thought to himself as he held the rolled up tube out to the ravenette.

Mari's mouth fell slightly agape as she took the rolled up poster into her own hands. Feeling the gloss of the paper against her fingertips, she unrolled it, and sure enough it was made out to her in Jagged's messy handwriting. Elias' previous words ran through her head again. ' _It's for a girl I like_ '.

 _Am- Am I that girl?!,_ Marinette wondered in bewilderment as she reread over the handwriting over and over to make sure it was actually her name written on it.

"H- Hey do you wanna go grab a snack with me in the break room?"

His question snapping her out of her thoughts, Marinette quickly replied, "Y- Yeah that would be great."

Marinette's heart was thrumming against her ribcage, blush lacing her cheeks as she trailed behind the singer. Through the heavy awkward silence, she was able to pick up that he was humming a tune and singing the lyrics under his breath.

 _"I don't know where you're going,_  
 _But do you got room for one more troubled soul_  
 _I don't know where I'm going,_  
 _But I don't think I'm coming home_  
 _And I said, I'll check in tomorrow if I don't wake up dead_  
 _This is the road to ruin and we're starting at the end_

 _Say, yeah_  
 _Let's be alone together_  
 _We could stay young forever_  
 _Scream it from the top of your lungs, lungs, lungs_

 _Say, yeah_  
 _Let's be alone together_  
 _We can stay young forever_  
 _We'll stay young, young, young."_

"You have a nice voice." Marinette complimented shyly.

Elias' face burned like it had been set on fire. "Sorry, I didn't realize I was singing out loud."

"So since you got backstage passes for me and Adrien fairly easily, does that mean you'll be performing too?"

He glanced over his shoulder and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'll be doing two songs."

Marinette shot him a genuine smile, her bluebell eyes sparkling like sapphires. "Well I'll be looking forward to your performance!"

His cobalt eyes meeting cerulean, and his heart melting in his chest from all of the heat from his cheeks, Elias leaned forward towards Marinette, near her ear as they stood in front of a table lined with food. "Can I tell you a secret?"

Marinette tensed slightly, but managed a hesitant nod.

Whispering, his breath tickling Mari's ear, he spoke softy. "I like you." Taking his chances, he then closed his eyes and leaned forward, the heat of his skin radiating off of him, the distance between him and Marinette closing. Interlocking lips for a few seconds, the brunette kissed her, and he enjoyed every second of it. Pulling away, he stared into the wide ocean of blue staring back at him, the girl's expression somewhere between confusion and delight.

"Elias Kingston, you'll be out in ten." A voice called from somewhere behind them.

"Marinette- I- I'm sorry I just- My emotions overtook me and I-"

"Elias! Come on, you heard the production team, you need to do final touchups and start warming up your voice!" Chelsea, his manager barked, grabbing his wrist and beginning to drag the brunette to his dressing room.

"But I-" He bit his bottom lip, turning to the bluenette designer. "I'm sorry." He whispered sincerely, his voice dying down in his throat.

Marinette stood speechless, her limbs frozen as butterflies stirred her stomach and her heart hammered against her ribcage. Gently, she raised her hand to her lips, her fingertips tracing over where their lips met. She could almost still feel the warmth that radiated off of him on her skin even though he were long gone.

 _What. Just. Happened._

' _I like you._ ' The brunette's tender words echoed and bounced around her head, ricocheting off every crevice of her mind. She buried her face in her hands, trying to steady her breathing once everything sunk in. She thought her heart belonged solely to Adrien, the only captor of the key, so why... why was this thief succeeding at lock picking the restraint chained to her heart?

* * *

Marinette stood next to Adrien in the front of the crowd, the stage practically within reaching range. The crowd was ecstatic as an announcer began to speak on the loudspeakers, but Marinette was too caught up in her thoughts to notice. Occasionally she'd steal side glances at the blond, which didn't help calm her heart at all. Biting her bottom lip, she clenched the fabric of her shirt in her hands. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel.

Suddenly the stage went dark and multicolored strobe lights and lasers began to shine out into the crowd, the bass of the speakers beginning to kick in and reverberate the sensation through everyone's chests. With this, nearly everyone's body in the crowd began to sway to the building beat, shoving Marinette and Adrien forward and away from each other, drawing them apart.

Turning to the designer, nearly having to yell to be heard over the music, Adrien called, "We- We should hold hands so that we can stay together and so that we won't get separated." He then offered her a sheepish smile, blush gently dusting over his face.

The next thing Marinette knew, her hand was intertwined with the model's, his fingers snugly interlocking with her's. The ravenette's mind shut down, everything that had happened today, being way too much for her to process. Smiling like an idiot, with rosy cheeks, she gripped Adrien's hand tighter, earning a firm squeeze from the blond.

 **X~X~X**

"I- I can't do it." Elias whimpered, his hands trembling as he involuntarily curled inward on himself. "I can't do this Chelsea. The- The last time I was on stage was when... when I collapsed in the middle of the concert. What- What if that happens again?!" His breathing became quick and ragged as his cobalt eyes widened with anxiety. "Wh- What if I have another sickle cell crisis?! What if this time it happens and it's worse than last time?! Chelsea what if-"

The brunette's manager, flipped her curly golden blonde ringlets over her shoulder, readjusting her glasses. She then gently rested a hand on his shoulder, taking her other hand and gently cupping his face, forcing him to look at her. "Elias, listen to me, breathe. Just breathe. In and out, in and out. It's all going to be perfectly fine. You can do this."

The brunette slowly and steadily inhaled and exhaled, attempting to bring his breathing back to a normal consistent rate. However the breathing did little to slow his pounding heart or nullify the churning of his stomach. "I don't want to let anyone down. Because of last time, a lot of my fans were outraged since they didn't fully get what they paid for. Chelsea... I- I'm scared. I don't want to go out there."

"Please Elias, just trust me, you'll be fine. Everything will be fine. The fans will love you regardless. Now where's the cocky artist that I know?" She asked teasingly, a weak smiling forming on her lips.

Letting out a shaky sigh, closing his eyes for a moment to regain his confidence, the American then turned towards his manger. Wearing a smirk, his cobalt eyes firm, he replied, "You're right. Hell yeah, I can do this. I can fucking do this!"

Chelsea smiled, gently rubbing his arm. "There's the Elias I know. Now get out there and show France what you're made of!" She cheered encouragingly.

 **X~X~X**

Suddenly a new distinguishable song and beat began to play over the speakers, a cloud of smoke rising from the smoke machine, cloaking a person, only the outline of their figure visible, the clash of drums following shortly after. A few seconds later, the strum of an electric guitar fell in sync with the drums, a male vocal singing along with the newly created beat.

A smile came across Adrien and Marinette's face once a spotlight fell upon a brunette, strumming an electric guitar, microphone on a stand in front of him.

 _"Say my name, and his in the same breath,_  
 _I dare you to say they taste the same,_  
 _Let the leaves fall off in the summer_  
 _And let December glow in flames_

 _Erase myself and let go,_  
 _Start it over again in Mexico_  
 _These friends, they don't love you_  
 _They just love the hotel suites, now_

 _I don't care what you think,_  
 _As long as it's about me_  
 _The best of us can find happiness, in misery_  
 _I don't care what you think,_  
 _As long as it's about me_  
 _The best of us can find happiness, in misery_

 _Oh, take a chance, let your body get a tolerance,_  
 _I'm not a chance, but a heat wave in your pants_  
 _Pull a breath like another cigarette,_  
 _Pawn shop heart trading up, said no_

 _I'm the oracle in my chest,_  
 _Let the guitar scream like a fascist,_  
 _Sweat it out, shut your mouth,_  
 _Free love on the streets, but_  
 _In the alley it ain't that cheap now_

 _I don't care what you think,_  
 _As long as it's about me_  
 _The best of us can find happiness, in misery_  
 _I don't care what you think,_  
 _As long as it's about me_  
 _The best of us can find happiness, in misery"_

Elias panted after finishing the final line, a smirk pulling across his lips. Putting his hand against his lips, he then blew an air kiss and shot a wink at the crowd, particularly in a certain slate haired girl's direction. Bowing, before he exited and went back backstage, the crowd erupted into cheers and applause.

Adrien felt a spark of jealousy resonate through him seeing Marinette's eyes go wide and seeing her smile grow even wider at the brunette's actions. Emerald green eyes shimmering with determination, he pulled their intertwined hands upwards, and he kissed the back of her hand.

A small gasp leaving Marinette's parted lips, Adrien then offered a kind smile once he'd gotten her attention. "I can do better." He said innocently, he then pulled his crush into a kiss, their lips interlocked, Marinette left in blissful confusion as she closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss. She began to think all the guys she happened to like had been drugged with an aphrodisiac or something, but regardless of why they seemed to be suddenly showing interest in a plain bakery girl like her, she could care less. Marinette was almost convinced that everything today was too good to be true.

Midway through an XY song, she realized, she had jinxed herself. First it started with a scream from some members of the crowd, but then she heard an unsettling word resonate throughout the hoard of people. _Akuma_.

She quickly turned to Adrien, to mumble some sort of excuse to run off, but she was surprised when she already found him staring at her.

"Um... I uh... Have to go to the bathroom, I- I'll be right back!" Adrien blurted out, unclasping his hand from the bluenette's and quickly disappearing into the panicked crowd.

As Adrien rushed off, maneuvering his way through the crowd, shrill laughter filled his ears, the very sound of it sending shivers up his spine.

"Do you hear it? I believe I do. It's the call of the fangirl!" The akuma shrieked. "I am Fangirl and because everyone always teased my ships saying they'd never be canon, I'm here to prove them all wrong! My ships WILL be canon!"

Glancing over his shoulder, Adrien noticed the akuma had long dark jet black hair, a slight maroon undertone tint to it. Her clothing was mainly composed of a band t-shirt, and a plaid skirt with leggings underneath. Had it not been for the obscure mask covering half her face and the levitation, he would've never guessed she were the victim. As he continued to push himself onward through people, he had to admit, Fangirl was probably one of the more normal looking akumas.

Unknowing to Adrien, Fangirl had a dark smirk etched onto her features, her eyes narrowed and her eyebrows quirked cockily. Using a pen, she scribbled something down into a notebook. "Nothing's better than seeing your fanfiction become canon." She grinned wickedly as a laugh began to resonate from her throat.

Adrien suddenly felt his body tense, all of his muscles going stiff and refusing to move. Suddenly his limbs were moving forward on their own, without his consent. He found his body turning around and going in the direction _towards_ the akuma.

 _No! No! No! Not yet! I'm not transformed_ , his mind screamed as his legs continued to drag him closer and closer to Fangirl.

Now standing right in front of Fangirl, Adrien felt anxiety coursing through his veins, scraping and clawing as it went. His limbs refused to cooperate, it was like he were paralyzed. "What- What do you want?" Adrien choked out, the vulnerability in his tone more evident than he had intended.

Levitating just above the ground, Fangirl caressed the blond's cheek, giggling. This sent a shiver up the model's spine, his body curling inward automatically on impulse. "D- Don't touch me." He whimpered, unable to lean away from her.

"Oh don't worry dear Agreste, I'm not going to hurt you." She offered a reassuring smile, which honestly didn't reassure him very much. A darker grin came across her features as she then added, "I'm not in the mood to write angst today."

Adrien swallowed dryly, "So what are you in the mood to write?" He asked weakly, his eyes glancing down at the words scribbled onto the notebook clutched tightly in her hand.

"You'll find out."

Suddenly the blond heard a stream of curse words roll off the tongue of someone all too familiar. "What the hell is going on?! Why the fuck are my legs moving on their own? What the hell! I can't move! Damn it!"

Adrien's face paled slightly. _She had said she wanted to make her ships canon earlier didn't she? Then why are only me and Elias-_ suddenly it clicked for the French model. The very thought made his skin crawl. She ships us together?!, his mind screamed in denial.

* * *

 **\- Continue with caution -**

 **From here, down until the next line break, contains some gay scenes. I'm sorry (not really...but) This next section wasn't supposed to be this gay, but I got carried away, so just skip over it and scroll down to the next line break if you aren't corrupted by the plague of gay-goggles.**

 _ **X~Thanks IRL friend for helping me come up with an excuse to be able to write this section, you know who you are Katsudon ;P~X**_

* * *

"I see you seem to get the picture." Fangirl said staring into the blond's emerald green eyes, which had widened. The akuma then began to scribble another sentence into her notebook, reading it aloud as she wrote, "And then the brunette began to close the distance between the two, his hands resting on the blond's chest as they stared into one another's eyes."

"I'm not doing that!" Elias yelled firmly, however his body began to disobey him, his limbs moving like he were a puppet on a string.

Both the blond's and the brunette's faces grew warm as the blood began to rush to their cheeks, as they were forced to condone Fangirl's dictation, making her fantasies become reality.

Elias' hands on the Parisian's chest, his eyes were flickering with anxiety. They were close, too close, way too fucking close for his comfort.

Fangirl then wrote another sentence, saying it aloud. "Adrien then leaned into the other teenager's touch, gently nipping the brunette's ear."

"I- I don't want this." Adrien near whimpered as his mouth came closer and closer to his rival's ear, his eyes nearly brimming with tears.

Their resistance only made the experience that much sweeter for Fangirl, as she was internally squealing at how canon her ship was at the moment. To the teenagers' dismay she then began to continue her 'fanfiction'. "The two then leaned into each other, their soft pillowy lips meeting one another's, a gentle peck, quickly escalating to passionately making out, their hands tangled in the other's hair."

The akuma then began to quickly sketch the scene before her with giddy joy onto another sheet of paper. "Definitely putting this on Tumblr later." She mumbled to herself, sketching out their facial features, and drawing the tufts of their hair. "Now why I don't I create some fanart for this wonderful fanfic?" She then sketched the two pulling apart, Adrien's arms draped snugly around Elias' neck, the blond staring into the abyss of the American's piercing eyes. Looking up, the scene then manifested before her. Humming to herself she then flipped back to the original writing and wrote another sentence. "Each other's warmth entangling one another's bodies, they then began to unbutton one another's shirts, exposing their chests."

 _My Lady, where are you?!_ , Adrien pleaded internally, his eyes frantically scanning the skyline for a flash of black and red.

"A- Adrien." Elias spoke gently, his eyes just as watery as the blond's. "I'm scared." He whispered.

"Me too." Adrien replied back hoarsely, his insides churning and his stomach lurching as memories of the alleyway resurfaced.

"Woah there Fangirl, we need to keep this PG." Ladybug chimed, using her yo-yo to swing from the Eiffel Tower. She would've been lying if she had said she wasn't at least _a little_ interested in this 'fanfiction enactment'. She could tell both of the models were absolutely mortified, so she knew she needed to step in and do something. Based on their teary-eyed expressions, she knew the kisses she'd shared with them earlier, had been long since forgotten.

"Shoo pest! I'm getting to the best part!" Fangirl cried, gritting her teeth. "Ugh. I'll come back for you two later, after I squash this bug." She growled through gritted teeth, staring at the two terrified teenagers.

Ladybug presumed the akuma either had to be in the pen Fangirl was drawing with, or in the notebook. Taking the more logical option, she lunged forward for the notebook. Knocking it out of Fangirl's hands, she then proceeded to rip it in half.

No midnight winged butterfly. No evil essence. Nothing. However, this did unbind the spell on all of Fangirl's victims. "You two civilians get out of here, and get to safety!" She called.

"We **NEVER** speak of this again!" Elias said to Adrien sternly, shuddering as he began to button his shirt back up.

"Agreed." Adrien muttered, as equally disgusted as the brunette, furiously rubbing his lips off on the sleeve of his shirt, involuntarily curling inward.

* * *

"My Lady!" Chat called panting, finally arriving at the scene, only to notice a polka dotted lasso around Fangirl, Ladybug twirling the pen between her fingers.

"What took you so long?" Ladybug asked almost teasingly.

"Oh My Lady, you see it was _Paw_ ful, I was one of Fangirl's un- _fur_ -tunate victims! And I was _fur_ ced to make out with Eli-" he paused, quickly covering up his almost accidental slip up. "I was _fur_ ced to make out with a total stranger, and it was absolutely terrifying not being able to move! I was not a _fan_ of that _fiction_." He exclaimed, his cat ears declining sharply and his leather tail flicking back and forth in aggravation. "So will you please endorse me Bugaboo?" The leather clad cat boy asked, "Please help me _fur_ get the un- _fur_ -tunate events that have unfolded this evening." He then leaned close to her, nearly pleading for any kind of affection she was willing to offer.

"Sorry kitty," Ladybug said giggling at his story, then proceeding to tap her index finger on the tip of his nose. "But after all those puns you just unfurled, there's no way you're getting a kiss from me."

Chat sulked, his ears falling flat against his head, the erratic swishing of his tail coming to a halt, his tail falling submissively between his legs. "For having such a _purr_ -ty face, you sure know how to crush a guy's heart My Lady." Chat said sighing pensively, kicking at the dust.

Ladybug offered a smile. "Well at least I'll let you do the honors of destroying the akuma?" She then held the fountain pen out to her partner.

"Gladly." Chat replied with a devious smirk. Taking it from her, the blond then summoned his power and yelled, "Cataclysm!" With that, the pen disintegrated and the akuma fluttered out of the remnants of the object.

Once everything had been purified and restored, Chat turned to the heroine in scarlet, the wind blowing her midnight hair in the wind. "Bugaboo would you... Would you want to enjoy the rest of the concert with me once our kwamis recharge?"

Ladybug rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm sorry Chat, but I actually came here with some friends that I have a crush on, so I'm gonna have to decline your offer this time. Maybe next time?"

He hated the uncertainty in her voice, and he hated that gentle sheepish smile she wore on her features when she had mentioned that she had came with friends. Worst of all she had said she had crushes on them, and her face had mimicked a shade of her suit as she had said this. He managed a weak 'everything's okay, even though it's really not' smile and mumbled out an, "Oh I see."

Suddenly the heroine's earrings gave a loud beep signaling she would detransform soon. "Sorry Chat, but I gotta go!" She called, dashing off, the blur of scarlet disappearing from the leather clad boy's eyes within a matter of seconds.

* * *

Adrien now stood next to Marinette once again, back at the front of the crowd, the music blasting and lyrics resonating through the air. He could hear the music but it all sounded distant and fragmented, like an echo, almost like he were underwater. His heart ached. Was this what it felt like to be heartbroken?

The brunette was out on stage again, the lyrics seemingly touching the blond even deeper as he saw just exactly how much the song pertained to Elias' medical condition, as well as his own conflicting feelings at the moment.

 _"If you're a lover, you should know_  
 _The lonely moments just get lonelier_  
 _The longer you're in love_  
 _Than if you were alone_  
 _Memories turn into daydreams, become a taboo_

 _I don't want to be afraid_  
 _The deeper that I go_  
 _It takes my breath away_  
 _Soft hearts electric souls_  
 _Heart to heart and eyes to eyes_  
 _Is this taboo?_

 _Baby we built this house_  
 _On memories_  
 _Take my picture now_  
 _Shake it 'til you see it_  
 _And when your fantasies_  
 _Become your legacy_  
 _Promise me a place_  
 _In your house of memories_

 _Woah, woah_  
 _Woah, woah_

 _I think of you from time to time_  
 _More than I thought I would_  
 _You were just too kind_  
 _And I was too young to know_  
 _That's all that really matters_  
 _I was a fool_

 _Baby we built this house_  
 _On memories_  
 _Take my picture now_  
 _Shake it 'til you see it_  
 _And when your fantasies_  
 _Become your legacy_  
 _Promise me a place_  
 _In your house of memories_

 _Woah, woah_  
 _Woah, woah_

 _Those thoughts of past lovers_  
 _They'll always haunt me_  
 _I wish I could believe_  
 _You'd never wrong me_  
 _Then will you remember_  
 _Me in the same way_  
 _As I remember you_

 _Baby we built this house_  
 _On memories_  
 _Take my picture now_  
 _Shake it 'til you see it_  
 _And when your fantasies_  
 _Become your legacy_  
 _Promise me a place_

 _Baby we built this house_  
 _On memories_  
 _Take my picture now_  
 _Shake it 'til you see it_  
 _And when your fantasies_  
 _Become your legacy_  
 _Promise me a place_  
 _In your house of memories_

 _Woah, woah_  
 _Woah, woah_  
 _In your house of memories_  
 _Woah, woah_  
 _Promise me a place."_

Adrien glanced over at Marinette. Without even thinking, he unconsciously grabbed her hand and interlocked it with his, pulling her small petite form close. "Let's stay together." He said sheepishly.

 _I can't lose you too_ , he thought, his heart fluttering as she giggled and her eyes shimmered like an ocean of sapphires. He had seen the way she looked at Elias, and he had noticed the way she looked at himself. Ladybug may have started to slip though his fingers, but he sure as hell was not going to let them both slip away from his grasp.

 _Marinette, please don't let me become just a memory_. He gripped her hand tighter, turning to stare into the beautiful cerulean eyes that stared back at him. The ravenette's bright bluebell irises were probably the only ocean of blue Adrien wouldn't mind drowning and getting lost in.

 _Is this warm sensation in my chest, what people call love?,_ he thought blissfully, a genuine smile upturning his lips as his cheeks gently flushed. He gave her hand another firm squeeze. _Please don't ever let go._

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope this chapter was to your liking, I tried to make this chapter more fan service than anything else, but I still hope it was enjoyable nonetheless (I'll try to squeeze in some Ladrien/Marichat/Lady Noir in a future chapter). I realize that with all of the potential ships I set up in this chapter it's a bit confusing, but don't worry, Adrienette will prevail, this is just some turbulence along the way. Also, I'd like to point out a guest who went by Ami, several chapters back ago they requested to have Elias and Mari kiss with some mellow Elias x Mari, so, I have delivered upon request. Anyways, as usual, thank you so much for supporting this story, and I love feedback, so feel free to favorite, follow, and review.**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**

 **-I have a contest!-** _So throughout this chapter Elias sang three songs, all of the lyrics for them have been italicized. The first three people who can leave a review telling me the names of all three songs and the name of the bands who sing them, will receive an author favorite from me ;) (and maybe even potentially a virtual cookie) However it can't be left in a guest review since I can't interact with those._


	10. Drown

_**Chapter 10: Drown**_

 **A/N: I could've had this chapter up a lot sooner, but I had finals for all of my classes, so my brain is fried, and I've been a lazy uncreative blob playing games on the PS4 since. Plus I'm sick so I've been coughing up my guts, I'm super congested, and my throat is on fire and feels like Satan is throwing a bonfire down there, and I wasn't even invited. Ugh. *Lifelessly throws chapter out and drops dead***

 **As for the contest, the songs were "Alone Together" and "I don't care" by Fall Out Boy, and "House of Memories" by Panic! At The Disco. I'd like to thank all of you who participated, but the first three reviewers were** _ **EllBellbunny**_ **,** _ **KokoAmethyst**_ **, and** ** _MarinetteAgreste107_** **(Although I'd like to give a shoutout to a guest who went by Alex, because technically, they were the very first one to answer correctly...but I can't interact with guests so...). All of you guys have earned author favorites from me, and I believe I gave everyone virtual cookies in a pm? If I forgot, then, *offers platter of cookies***

* * *

Adrien stared absentmindedly out the widow, watching rainwater overflow the gutter on the roof, the contents spilling and running down the outside of the window pane. The gentle pitter patter of the rain, giving a lulling mellow sound. He was supposed to be doing math homework, but he kept finding himself getting distracted.

He'd never liked the rain. The droplets that fell from the gray, hazy overcast clouds, reminded him of tears. Ever since he'd discovered his other feline half, he found himself disliking it even more so. He tapped his pencil against the slick surface of his desk, casually spinning from side to side in his swivel chair.

A tight line fell across his lips when he recalled his Mother had always said she found the rain comforting. He gingerly pressed the palm of his hand against the cool surface of the glass, his hands being met with the condensation that had formed. Under his breath he then murmured a soft, "Why?"

He hadn't even realized he had begun crying until he tasted salt on his lips. Just knowing that his body had done it on impulse, made more warm salty tears cascade down his cheeks.

Rubbing the tears out of his eyes, he furiously shook his head, clearing away the thoughts. Standing up, he pushed the swivel chair in and took another longing glance outside the window. "Plagg, claws out." He mumbled quietly.

"Come on Kid, it's raining and you're not even supposed to be on patrol until another two hours!" Plagg whined in protest, seconds later disappearing into the ring on the blond's finger.

Gingerly lifting the locks on the widow, he raised the glass just enough that he could slip out.

Chat shivered as the wind caressed his face and blew his blond locks into even more disarray. He repressed a shiver as he felt raindrops hit his face. Using his staff, he propelled himself through the air, over the large gate in front of the Agreste mansion, then proceeding to pole vault himself from roof to roof. Upon reaching the Seine River, he stepped out onto Pont des Arts pedestrian bridge, love lock bridge. Peering over the side, he looked into the water's murky depths, the rain turning the water muddy. Pulling away from the railing, he then grazed his gloved fingers over the surfaces of some metal locks. _Will Marinette and I ever have a lock here? It's a long shot, but maybe even my Lady and I...,_ he fantasized, grabbing one and studying it in his hands. He smiled as he read over the names engraved onto the front of the lock.

He nearly jumped out of his skin and fell into the abyss of keys below, when a familiar voice called to him.

"Chat Noir? What're you doing out here in the rain?" Marinette asked, cocking her head slightly to one side, she then took notice of the lock held in his right hand. "Oh, are you looking to put a lock on for you and Ladybug?" She asked with giggle. Then a darker smile came across her lips. "Or maybe you're vengeful, looking to destroy an ex's current relationship?"

Chat furiously and frantically waved his hands in the air, blushing. "O- Of course not! I would never do that! I've just... been thinking a lot about someone lately."

"Oh really?" The designer smirked, cocking an eyebrow, something devious in her eyes. "And who's the lucky girl?"

Chat slowly strode towards the slate haired girl, his ears picking up the thrum of raindrops colliding against the fabric of her pastel pink umbrella. He crossed his arms firmly across his chest, a smirk playing across his lips. "That's a secret Princess." His expression dropping, he then nervously kicked at a puddle around his feet. "Can- Can I ask you for some advice?"

Marinette gently nodded, urging him to continue.

"So this girl... She's someone I'm friends with at school, but she always acts differently around me than she does everyone else. From a distance, when I'm away from her, she's strong, confident, and determined. But around me, she's shy, flustered, and just...different. I- I mean I kissed her and held hands with her recently, but I'm not sure if she liked it since she hasn't replied back to any of my texts since then. Does that mean I interpreted her feelings towards me wrong? Or did I jump the gun? Or..." his ears sunk and declined sharply. "Or does that mean she doesn't like me at all?"

"Hmm..." Mari spun the umbrella in her hands. "Well to me, it sounds like she must like you too, if she didn't reject you when you tried to kiss her or hold hands. She's probably flustered and nervous because she likes you. Maybe she just needs some time to process everything?" The designer offered with a shrug and a reassuring smile.

"Okay thank you." The leather clad cat boy said, taking in her advice. "It makes me feel a little better to hear you say that."

 _A lot actually_ , Chat thought to himself.

"Chat, you should get out of the rain and dry off somewhere." Marinette stated, the concern in the tone of her voice evident as she took in his darkened, damp hair that was clinging to his forehead, and the slick look of the wet leather on his skin. "You'll catch a cold if you stay out here for too long."

"Well then Princess, Au Revoir." The blond said, giving a two finger salute before he used his baton to propel himself through the air, onto the rooftop of a nearby building. Climbing under an overhang of a storage unit on one of the roofs, Chat slid down the rough concrete wall, drawing his legs in close to his chest. He shivered, his teeth beginning to chatter.

He pulled his lean form tightly inward to try to conserve body heat. As stubborn as he was, he refused to show weakness, especially not as his alter ego. He'd made his mind up, and he was going to follow through with it. He was going to wait for Ladybug in the rain, and for once, he decided he was not going to be late to their patrol. Did he know the idea was idiotic? _Yes_. Did he realize he could go home and just come back later? _Yes_. Did he care? _Being the stubborn feline he was, no, not really_.

* * *

By the time his hair had finally began to somewhat dry, the alarm he had set on the technology portion of his staff began to beep. With a groan, he pulled himself up and stepped back into the heavy pelting downpour, his ears falling flat against his head in dismay. Going to their normal meeting place, he sulked slightly, seeing the spotted heroine wasn't already there. _At least waiting for her is chivalrous and gentlemanly right?_ , he tried to convince himself. But the more time that passed, he found himself growing more fidgety and antsy from anxiety. He began to think that his decision wasn't chivalrous, but quite the contrary, and idiotic instead. _Is she not even coming today?_ He found himself constantly stealing glances at the digital clock on his baton.

He glanced down at another large puddle near his feet, watching ringlets form and ripple the surface of the water anytime raindrops brushed against it. Stepping closer to it and leaning down, he saw his reflection. Even though the mask covered half of his face, you could still see the tiredness that leaked from his eyes, it didn't take a genius to figure out how dark the circles underneath were.

He began to wonder when his face had began to look so hollow, and had his jawline and cheekbones always been this sharp?

After waiting another five minutes, he concluded that the scarlet heroine wasn't coming to patrol today. Although, he could hardly blame her, considering how nasty the weather was. Sighing in defeat, he pulled himself together, and began to wander the usual patrol route he took with Ladybug. _Alone_.

Chat paused upon seeing large barricades of jagged ice near the entrance of the aquarium. That struck him as off. There hadn't been any reports of any akumas on the Ladyblog... Casually he leapt down with cat-like grace, approaching the wall of ice. Trailing his hand against it, he felt the cold seep through the material of his gloves. Just by touching it, he could sense there was something dark and ominous about it. Using his staff to propel himself upwards, Chat came up to one of the large round windows that would've normally lit the lobby area. Crashing through the glass, he landed on marble floor.

His eyes still adjusting to the dim lighting, Chat spun in a slow circle, searching for any movement, his ears rapidly twitching in all directions attempting to pick up any sounds. That's when he heard it. It was faint, but he'd definitely heard the click of glass slowly cracking. Slowly creeping towards the direction the sound came from, his eyes glazed over a tall lean figure, a crooked staff in their hand.

"Ah, Chat Noir you're here." The voice spoke.

The blond instinctively narrowed his eyes, eyebrows furrowed. "What exactly are you doing here?"

"Merely adapting these fish to a colder climate." The akuma replied coyly, showing little to no interest in the hero's presence.

Squinting, that's when Chat noticed the cracks forming against the glass of the tank, all of the water within turned to solid ice, frost dancing along the outside surface of the transparent glass. "Woah man, _chill_ out. You'll... You'll kill all of the fish." Chat muttered looking at the darkened blobs trapped within the frostbitten abyss, which he could only assume were fish.

The akuma shrugged, continuing to use his staff to shoot frost and ice at the interior of the aquarium.

Then the figure stepped under one of the few dim overhead lights above. This akuma's hair was ivory, and white as snow, eyes a piercing haunting blue with skin as cold and as pale as ice. A dark blue hoodie was loosely clinging to his form, frost collecting and dusting around the collar. Chat couldn't quite place it at first, but once the akuma introduced himself, he understood why the transformation looked so familiar, and why he looked like an iconic character out of a cartoon movie.

"Jack Frost's the name, and snow's my game. Care to dance with the bitter cold?"

"I'd be _paw_ sitively delighted to take you up on your of _fur_ , but I'm afraid being a _catsicle_ isn't exactly of my best interests at the moment." The blond said gesturing at himself, seeing as how his clothing and his hair was dripping water onto the floor.

Jack let out a hollow laugh, whirling his wooden staff in his hands. "Let's have some fun then shall we? Loosen up a little cat! I can sense the depression radiating off of you from here. Come on live a little!"

Jack then blew a small cloud of snowflakes at the leather clad cat boy, the snowflakes sticking in the blond's wet hair. Using his Shepard-like staff, Jack then created a mini blizzard within the aquarium, the marble flooring quickly being covered by snow, and the glass being grazed by intricate designs of frost. "Care to have a snowball fight?"

Chat inadvertently cocked his head to one side, his tone laced with confusion. "A... A snowball fight?" Chat didn't understand, why was Jack Frost being so friendly?

Before The blond could say anything back in compliance, he was struck in the face with a tightly compacted ball of snow, the moment it impacted his face, it exploded into a powdery blizzard. Chat brought a hand to his face, rubbing just below his cheekbone, wincing. "Ow... That wasn't fair! I wasn't ready!" The leather clad cat boy exclaimed, cradling his cheek, his bottom lip protruding out into a sulky pout.

A smirk played across the elemental ice user's lips, as a chuckle bubbled out of his throat. "Catch me if you can fleabag!" Jack called, childishly sticking out his tongue as he formed a staircase out of ice, quickly dashing up it.

"Why you little..." Chat muttered through gritted teeth, his tail rapidly flicking back and forth in irritation. His compulsiveness getting the better of him, he grabbed a fistful of snow and attempted to sprint up the newly formed staircase, after the trickster. The staircase had several kinks and curves, and no matter how hard Chat seemed to run, or how much his speed continued to increase, Jack always seemed just _slightly_ out of his reach. By this point, his lungs were burning, and sweat had beaded on his forehead as he began to pant between movements. He was thankful for the added traction his suit gave him. Taking a moment to glance at his surroundings, the blond realized he didn't know where he was at, he had been to the aquarium multiple times before, but this area was unfamiliar, perhaps a staff only section? He had unconsciously just ran after Jack blindly. Once he realized the stairs were beginning a sharp incline, and he saw Jack at the top, he began to feel a small fragment of hope.

But something felt off, why was Jack Frost looking at him like that? The ivory haired male's arms were crossed firmly across his chest, his lips pulled into a wicked smirk, his eyes brimming and flickering with something mischievous, something... _dangerous_.

That's when he caught the quick glint of light beneath him. Ice. He felt his foot slip and hit the block of ice the wrong way. His pupils dilated and his eyes widened as he felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. He was falling. He desperately reached for his staff, but just as he was about to lock his hand around it, he was left with empty air in his palm. Gasping in disbelief, he saw Jack's smug grin as ice encased the baton, rendering it useless. Squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his teeth, he instinctively curled inward. Opening his eyes and stealing a glance at the ground, his fear only widened, his heart rapidly accelerating with anxiety. Below him, there was no ground, but in fact, water instead. Sloshing frostbitten seawater, hungry carnivorous predators lurking within the icy depths.

Suddenly he found an icicle javelin hurling towards him, but noticing this too late, the projectile grazed his skin, cutting through his suit and leaving a slash across his forearm, blood beginning to ooze from the newly acquired wound. Chat's heart sank. A bleeding cut, plus falling into a confined space with great white sharks, without a baton, definitely was not a good combination. He swallowed dryly, his Adam's apple bobbing.

He instantly felt the shock from the icy chill of the water overtake his body, and he felt his muscles contract and begin to spasm. Gasping and struggling to stay above the surface, he took large desperate gulps of air, gravity winning the battle and beginning to pull him under. Sinking, he desperately clawed at the water in anguish, attempting to swim, thrashing violently, but his desperate attempt ended in failure. No matter how much he flailed and desperately kicked and clawed, water's deathly grip and his demons within, kept pulling him under.

Unable to hold his breath any longer, all of the oxygen within his lungs exploded out into a cloud of bubbles. He felt the water going down his throat, and he felt his lungs burning in his chest. He was suffocating, and he knew it, the inky blackness congregating around the edges of his vision wasn't helping to quell his growing anxiety.

Though he'd never dare admit it in front of someone else, he was deathly afraid of water. He couldn't swim. Although, he had a justified reason for his trauma.

He remembered back when he was about six or seven, while Elias and his family was still living Paris, their parents had rented out a large luxurious swimming pool. He, Chloe, and Elias had been taking swim lessons from his mom, but they were still on the basics, so they still needed to swim with the aide of a life jacket or a raft in the deep end. Since his mother was going to be late since she was helping Gabriel with work, she had told Adrien and the others to go on ahead. This is where it had all went south.

The trio diving into the pool at the shallow end, waited expectantly, however being children, they got bored relatively quickly. Adrien remembered, this was when Chloe had dared him and Elias to race from the shallow end to the deep end and back. He remembered having confidence that he would win, ridiculing the brunette, bragging about how fast he could swim, but that was his downfall.

Once they had begun the race, once Adrien's hand left the wall of the pool from the deep end, his foot began to cramp. His cramped foot had hurt too much to attempt to kick, so when he had began sinking, his body kicked in adrenaline and went to autopilot, which inevitably had lead to flailing his hands about, thrashing water everywhere as he began to sink deeper.

Neither Chloe nor Elias knew how to swim underwater yet, so neither were able to pull the blond to safety.

Luckily his mother had came in at just the right time, acting quickly and diving in to save him. He had nearly drowned. He remembered the smell of chlorine surrounding him and the burning in his chest, the feeling of water gushing down his throat, the bright green eyes that had stared into his half lidded ones when he coughed up water. After that incident, going in water above his waist, terrified him, and he absolutely refused to continue swim lessons after he had nearly drowned.

Fading in and out of consciousness, Chat was reminded about the situation at hand. With one final spasm, he vigorously attempted to paddle or kick or do _anything_ , but his attempt had ended in failure yet again. Seeing a large dark blob heading in his direction out of the corner of his eye, and seeing the trail of blood that oozed from the cut on his forearm, he knew this was the end. If he didn't drown first, the shark would end up eating him alive, and if that didn't happen and he somehow miraculously managed to get out, he was sure he'd have mutilated limbs.

Closing his eyes and letting the coldness overtake him, he stopped thrashing and quit trying to resist gravity, letting himself sink further and deeper. He knew he couldn't swim, so he decided to stop resisting the inevitable.

 _I'm drowning. Is this how it's all going to end?,_ the blond wondered, his vision gradually growing darker and darker, his 'breathing' beginning to grow more and more shallow.

 **X~X~X**

Marinette quietly hummed along to the tune of the song playing in her headphones as she casually sketched out a design in her notebook.

"MARINETTE!" Tikki called frantically, scaring the bluenette, causing her to make a long line that was out of place.

The designer groaned slightly, turning to glance over her shoulder at her small scarlet kwami. As Tikki spoke, she delicately ran the eraser over the the long jagged line, then proceeding to brush off the eraser shavings.

The small kwami appeared out of breath, so Mari waited patiently for her kwami's explanation.

"It's... It's Chat Noir- He... He's in danger!" Tikki exclaimed with urgency. I've been detecting signals from Plagg, and his user's health condition is really critical right now, and according to Plagg, his charge's anxiety levels are off the charts! Marinette we have to save him!"

Marinette sat still and silent, taking a moment to process everything her kwami had just spat out at her. "Plagg...?" She asked curiously, as she gently set her notebook down on her desk and stood up.

"That's Chat Noir's kwami, now hurry up Marinette! We need to go pronto!"

"Alright Tikki, spots on!" The bluenette called, undergoing her transformation sequence. Going as fast as her legs could carry her, she dashed outside and swung on her yo-yo across Paris at an alarming rate.

Ladybug desperately stumbled into the aquarium, leaping over all of the jagged walls of ice, her bluebell eyes frantically scanning every crevice and crawl space. Her eyebrows arched downwards in confusion, she carefully treaded up an ice like staircase, and after following it, she came across a peculiar figure who was laughing quietly under his breath. Turning her head, she then saw what he was looking at. Her face instantly paled and her heart began to throb erratically in her chest. Within the waters of the tank was a leather clad cat boy with a messy tangle of blond hair sprawled out around him, his body limp and lifeless as his back hit the bottom of the tank, blood seeping from his arm.

Jack Frost detecting the heroine's presence, he used his staff to freeze the scene before them into solid ice. "I'll get back to you later Chat Noir."

Her pupils widening in disbelief and anger boiling through her veins, Ladybug lunged at the akuma, calling Lucky Charm as she went.

Within her hands appeared a polka dotted flamethrower. The object manifesting within her hands, a wicked smirk came across her lips as she readjusted her grip. She found it fitting considering she was going against an ice elemental. For the sake of her partner, even though she knew he couldn't hear her in his unconscious state, she made a lighthearted pun. "Let's blow this popsicle stand!"

Guzzling out fire, she blast out a fiery inferno at the akuma. Protectively, Jack flung his wooden staff behind him, wincing as the flames sizzled against his skin, steam rolling off of the newly acquired burns.

 _Bingo_ , Ladybug thought, noticing how cautious he was being with the staff.

After multiple missed shots, and taking a few scrapes of her own, Ladybug finally managed to burn the wood of the staff and set it ablaze, causing a jet black butterfly to flutter free. Purifying it, she then quickly dashed up the stairs back to the aquarium tank that contained her partner, flamethrower in hand. Cautious and careful, she slowly melted away a small chunk out of the ice, melting it deep enough she could swim down and reach him, but far enough she wouldn't accidentally burn her partner.

Taking a deep breath, she dove down into the depths of the frigid water, dragging the unconscious blond up with her. Desperately she pressed her ear to his chest. She let out a sigh of relief. His heart was still beating, but if she didn't act fast, she knew that could quickly change.

Pressing on his chest, she began to preform CPR, blowing air into his lungs, her lips pressed against his. She continued in succession, each attempt done in more anguish and anxiety than the last.

Finally, the leather clad bag boy choked up water, taking in desperate gasps and gulps of air. His chest rose and fell, but he remained laying on his back, his eyes closed as he allowed his breathing to begin to even out. Shivering, his teeth began to chatter and his whole body began to tremble from the wet exposure to the cold. Rolling onto his side, he drew his limbs inward close to him, desperate for any warmth that he could siphon.

"Chaton! Are you okay?!" Ladybug called with concern, staring at her companion in anxiety and worry, gently placing a hand on his jawline, caressing his cheek.

"C- C- C- Cold." Chat stuttered, the everlasting frostbitten chill from the water and the ice, numbing all of the feeling in his body.

Nearly toppling over as he began to stand up, Ladybug, grabbed his arm and helped the blond up, draping his arm around her neck for support.

* * *

Standing at where the duo normally met to begin patrol, Ladybug stared into her partner's deep emerald green eyes with concern. For probably the millionth time, she asked him, "Are you sure you'll be okay on your own? A- And your arm it's still-"

Chat silenced her, placing his hand on her cheek, rubbing his thumb under her cheekbone. "Don't worry Bugaboo, I'll be fine. Thanks to you I won't be a _paw_ pcicle." He shot her a cheeky smile. "There's _snow_ time like the present! After all, you did say you wanted to keep our identities secret right? Who knows, if you find out my address that could reveal me right away." Chat said, his tone playful.

"But- Uh- Chat!" Ladybug huffed, crossing her arms. "You're hurt!" She exclaimed, gesturing towards his arm, which oddly hadn't healed when she had cast miraculous cure. Sighing she shook her head, "I know you're stubborn when you want to be, so I won't argue with you. Take care Chaton." Ladybug said with a slight subtle wave.

Chat dramatically cupped his hand around his heart, feigning hurt. "Just a wave My Lady? How cruel of you to give me the _cold_ shoulder."

Ladybug quirked an eyebrow, placing a hand on her hip, a smile tugging at her lips. "Oh does the poor little stray kitty want me to coddle him and give him attention?" She teased with a baby voice.

Chat's ears twitched forward in anticipation. "...I wouldn't object."

Giggling, she approached him and embraced him tightly, careful to avoid his wound. Pulling away she then stroked his hair and ran her fingers through cold, damp, blond strands of hair. Then just for effect, she gave the small golden bell near his neck, a gentle flick to make it jingle. She could've swore he started purring as he leaned into her touch. She had to resist the almost overwhelming urge to pull him into a kiss.

* * *

Climbing through his bedroom window, and slipping into his room, Chat slid down the wall, his suit still dripping wet as he released his transformation. He tilted his head back and leaned against the wall closing his eyes. Nearly drowning and being frozen to death had took a lot of him. He was exhausted.

Pulling himself up, he cradled his arm and made his way into the bathroom. Slowly stripping down, out of his soaked clothes, he turned on the shower and let it run to adjust the temperature. Once the water had grown warm and steamy, he stepped into the welcoming stream.

He let out a sigh of relief as the water gently pelted his skin. His knees nearly went weak and his bones nearly turned to jelly at the surefire source of welcoming warmth.

"Kid did you really have to drag me out into the rain and get submerged into an aquarium tank?!" Plagg exclaimed, seething with anger. Although he didn't show it, he was actually quite concerned about his charge.

Rubbing shampoo in his hair, Adrien replied nonchalantly, "Get over it fluff butt, a little water never killed anybody."

The feline like kwami scoffed. "I believe, _you,_ from thirty minutes ago and the Wicked Witch of the West would disagree with that."

Adrien sighed, shaking his head and mumbling under his breath as he washed out the shampoo suds. "You've been watching way too much tv."

Once Adrien had finished, he dried himself off with a towel and gingerly bandaged up his arm. Slipping into warm and comfortable pajamas, he then strutted into his bedroom, plopping down onto the bed with his still-wet hair. He was too tired and too lazy to even bother tackling drying his hair. Reaching over across his nightstand, he wrapped his fingers around his phone and held it slightly above his face. Once the screen lit up, he was met with a few missed texts from Nino.

He skimmed over them.

 **Nino:** _Yo, what's up?_

 **Nino:** _Hey, so everyone else in the gang decided we're all gonna go out on a trip to the beach tomorrow, you wanna come with? We're leaving tomorrow morning._

 **Nino:** _Marinette's gonna be coming, if you catch my drift ;) It'd be a great opportunity to scope out that bod of her's._

Adrien contemplated the offer for a moment before responding. His Father would be at another fashion show in another part of Europe for the next few days... Elias was meeting up with a local French record company, in a city a few hours away from Paris, until the beginning of next week... and he definitely could use a break... After thinking about it, Adrien had to admit spending the weekend with his friends at a beach cottage along the coast definitely sounded a lot more appealing than spending the weekend alone, in an empty desolate mansion.

 **Adrien:** _Sure, sounds like fun. Definitely can't miss out on an opportunity like that ;)_

To the blond's surprise, he got a text back from Nino within a few seconds.

 **Nino:** _Woah dude, I just realized. We're going to a beach!_

 **Adrien:** _Yeah... what's your point?_

 **Nino:** _I can finally wear my canary yellow Hawaiian shirt! It's literally been sitting in my closet for forever. I finally have an excuse to wear it!_

 **Adrien:** _Don't. Just trust me, don't._

The model cringed at the mere thought of just imagining his best friend in the apparel.

 **Adrien:** _I'm exhausted and literally about to pass out, so I gtg, see you tomorrow. Goodnight._

After receiving a message back from Nino, Adrien turned his phone off and plugged his charger in. After relaxing and curling up with a blanket around him, Adrien found himself fast asleep, snoring softly, all of his energy drained from his battle against the frigid unforgiving seawater.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! I know this chapter wasn't super eventful and was just fluff with a twinge of angst, but I've been sick and my brain's mush, so there's my explanation. *Laughs evilly as thrums fingers together* The next chapter's gonna be beach shenanigans and sickfic related, so be prepared. I know that's cliched, but I'm a total sucker for sickfics. Anyways, if you enjoyed, feel free to favorite, follow, and review, all feedback is greatly appreciated. Also, feel free to shoot me up with event requests or akuma ideas (I'm not creative enough to keep coming up with all of these villains on my own lol).**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**


	11. Resilience

_**Chapter 11: Resilience**_

 **A/N: I promise I haven't abandoned this story! But, as always, thank you guys for all of your support, especially the reviews! But as promised, here is a beach/sickfic chapter. I'm sorry for having to apologize about delayed updates so much lately, but I've been lurking in the trash of other fandoms, and at school I recently joined the color guard, so due to practices and between trying to study for tests and keeping my grades up, I'm not left with a lot of time to write, so there's another reason for my delay. Plus on top of that, I've just been uninspired in general. *dives back into the dumpster of shame that I came from*.**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**

 _ ***Note: Lack of a lot editing since I wanted to get this out asap -Also I would've had this posted by May 3rd, but there was a site wide issue with posting chapters, and email alerts weren't working properly, so I withheld the chapter until they fixed the issue, but I believe the admins have fixed the problem now, so bam, I present the next chapter!**_

* * *

Adrien groaned and groggily opened his eyes, his eyelids heavy, his skin uncomfortably warm. Sluggishly, he rolled over onto his side and reached for his phone, wincing as the bright light hit his eyes. Reading over the missed texts, he remembered that he agreed to go on a trip to the beach. He'd honestly totally forgotten about the conversation from last night, but considering how many texts had been left in the group chat, there was no way he could forget now.

Untangling himself from the tangle of sheets, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, letting out a sigh of discontent as he dragged himself off of his mattress.

Standing in front of his closet and rummaging through his dresser, the blond managed to snag a few pair of clothes to last him through the weekend. For a moment he stood staring at the pair of swim trunks that hung up on a hanger, towards the back of his closet, the brightly designed fabric seemingly taunting him. Pursing his lips and with a grunt of disapproval, he grabbed it and stuffed it into his backpack alongside the other folded pairs of clothing. He then proceeded to pack any other essentials he would need, making doubly sure to pack plenty of Camembert for a certain grumpy kwami.

Once everything had been packed, the model strutted towards the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, he took in his reflection. Irises dark and half-lidded, dull shine, and tiredness and exhaustion clearly evident, the dark semicircles just making his exhaustion that much more apparent. Then there was the gentle flush to his face. Gingerly he raised his hand to his forehead, feeling the immense heat that radiated from his skin.

"Crap... I have a fever." He muttered, glancing longingly at the backpack sprawled on his bed. He wanted to go on this trip, and more importantly he wanted to talk to Marinette, and if needed, apologize to her. Shaking his head, he absentmindedly strutted downstairs and rummaged through the medicine cabinet until he came across what he was looking for.

Popping out two capsules of Tylenol, he then proceeded to pop them into his mouth and swallow them with a glass of water. He grimaced at their grimy disgusting taste, sticking his tongue out in disgust. He winced slightly at the pain in his throat when he attempted to swallow.

Contemplating it for a while, he debated whether to pack medicine with him, holding the container in hand. After realizing how much his throat hurt and how much his skin felt like hell itself had been cast upon him, he brought it upstairs with him and shoved the medicine down towards the bottom of the bag, burying it underneath his clothing.

"It's just a fever, I'll be fine." He tried to convince himself as he stripped off his pajamas and changed into clothes. Sighing, he plopped back down on the bed, resting the crook of his elbow over his face. He groaned and rolled onto his side, trying to find any way to get comfortable enough to soothe the throbbing of his head.

"Plagg!" Adrien whined groggily, drawing his limbs in close to him as a cold chill settled through him. "You're like a mini god or something right? Make this headache go away..."

The cat-like kwami rolled his eyes, promptly crossing his arms over his small chest. "Kid, it doesn't work that."

"Why not?" Adrien continued to whine, twisting in every which way to try to find a comfortable resting position.

Adrien flinched as he felt his phone vibrate. Nino had texted him that they were here. A few seconds later, a car horn blared from somewhere outside, further signaling their arrival. Rolling over, he slid off the bed and slipped on his shoes, slinging his backpack over his back. With a sigh, he drearily called for the kwami and gestured inside his bag. Checking everything over one last time, to make sure he had everything, Adrien grabbed his set of keys and shoved them into the pocket of his backpack, then proceeding to lock the door to the humongous estate as he exited.

He slowly walked towards the small SUV, his movements slow and sluggish as he pried his bag off of his back and tossed it into the trunk. He could already hear how loud the radio was blaring before he even opened the door to the car. With a groan, squeezing his eyes shut, he exhaled sharply. It brought pain to his temples just merely thinking about being crammed into a tight confined space for hours on end, having his ears bleed out while this raging headache slowly and agonizingly ripped open his skull.

Just as he was about to pull open the door, he flinched violently, nearly stumbling backwards out of fear and astonishment as Alya laid down on the horn, nearly scaring the living daylights out of the blond. His emerald green eyes widened as he went slack jawed, staring through the translucent window at the driver's side, seeing a smirking Alya. Shaking his head and exhaling slowly, he reached for the handle to the door, his heart still pounding in his ears from the impatient auburn haired teen's antics. Upon opening, he was greeted with an explosion of music, the speakers thumping so much, they were practically shaking Adrien's seat. Seeing Nino tampering with the radio, adjusting knobs and pressing buttons, Adrien figured he should've known better considering the Dj was coming.

He looked to his right, noticing the seat was still empty. Alya was in the driver's seat, while Nino was in the passenger's, sitting shotgun.

"Glad you could make it Dude!" Nino cheered, nearly having to yell to be heard over the music. "But woah... Dude you look like hell."

" _Thanks_." Adrien mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"God Nino! Could you turn it down! It's way too damn early to be cranking this up so loud!" Alya growled, shooting a glare at her boyfriend as she grumbled incoherently under her breath. She irritatedly thrummed her finger against the steering wheel, gritting her teeth with furious narrowed eyes as she had to lock up the car for the fourth red light in a row.

Swallowing hard, Nino nodded feebly and readjusted the volume so that it played at a more quiet and normal volume.

Twisting his body to peer around the leather seat, Nino offered Adrien a bright cheery smile and a dopey nervous laugh. "Dude you ready to kick some major butt when we play volleyball against the girls later?"

It took Adrien a moment to process what the olive skinned boy had just said to him. The blond had been concentrating so deeply on not letting a cough trickle out of his throat, he hadn't even realized he was being spoken to, until the final words left Nino's lips. This headache was killing him, pain pulsating through his temples with each pounding and throbbing heartbeat. "Huh...? Oh! Um, yeah definitely!"

"Bros before hoes, right mi amigo?" Nino said, a smug grin pulling across his features as he held his fist out to Adrien for a fist bump, while he also shot a playful wink at Alya as they pulled up outside of Marinette's parents' bakery.

"Oh is that so?" Alya asked, sarcasm dripping from her venomous tone as she glared daggers at the olive skinned boy. "I accept your challenge."

Adrien had to hold back a snicker, he knew better than to get between a lover's quarrel.

He wasn't sure how he hadn't noticed when he first got in the car, but now that Adrien had seen it, he couldn't unsee it. He cringed at the mere repulsiveness of it. He knew for a fact he had strictly told Nino not to wear it, but yet, here the olive skinned boy was, wearing a Hawaiian shirt coated in decorative floral patterns. Canary yellow and a size too big, just like Nino had described. The blond's breath caught in his throat as he bit back a remark about Nino's fashion taste. As much as it hurt his eyes to look at it, he decided to keep his mouth shut, and keep to himself.

Turning his head to the right, he could see Marinette approaching with a small pink suitcase in hand through the window opposite of his.

He knew he looked terrible—Nino's comment making it apparent and confirming that he looked as bad as he felt—but Adrien tried to gussy himself up as much as physically possible. After all, Marinette had been the primary reason the model had agreed to go on the trip in the first place. Raking his fingers through his tangled blond locks, Adrien attempted to comb through his hair, wincing as his fingers got caught in a knot. His posture immediately straightened from his previously slouched position as he heard the trunk slam, signifying Mari had deposited her belongings.

As soon as Marinette pulled open the car door, and spouted off a greeting to everyone within, a bright smile on her face, her expression suddenly dropped when out of context Alya shamelessly called over the seat, "Chicks before dicks, right Mari?" Alya then shot Nino a sideways glance as she reached across the seat and trailed a suggestive hand along his thigh. "That means you Babe." She said quickly withdrawing her hand, a dark grin coming across her lips.

Marinette could only manage a stutter at Alya's bold statement.

"H- Hi Marinette." Adrien greeted shyly, her presence making the light flush over his face grow even deeper. Already having a fever, with the added warmth developing in his cheeks, Adrien felt like he was being convicted at Salem, being burned at the stake.

"A- Adrien I..." Marinette's bluebell eyes grew wide as she locked eyes with emerald irises. Her heart was throbbing in her chest, thumping erratically, and almost painfully. Her body froze, her lips left slightly parted. She wasn't sure what to say to Adrien or how she was supposed to act around him. She hadn't spoken to him since the concert. Warmth crept up her cheeks as she sat there blankly, just staring into the blond's welcoming abyss of shimmering emerald.

Adrien winced internally at her outward reaction towards him. He knew he'd end up regretting his actions at some point. Biting his bottom lip, he sucked in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Running a hand through his messy tangled hair he let out a pensive sigh. "I want to apologize. I'm... I'm sorry Marinette. I'm sorry for what I did at the concert, it was out of line and I shouldn't of kissed you without your consent." Adrien said slowly, lowering his voice so the conversation would stay between the two of them. "I guess there's no way you could like a guy like me." He continued with a hollow nervous laugh, hurt concealed within his last words. "I suppose that's why you haven't been texting me back too." He continued, forging another laugh, pulling another fake facade, pretending everything was okay.

Faking a smile was easy once you've been doing it for a while.

Multiple red flags and sirens were going off in Marinette's head as her pupils dilated further. _No... No. No. NO! Mari you idiot! He thinks I was ignoring him on purpose so he thinks I'm mad at him for kissing me! NO!_

Frantically, Marinette waved her hands about in front of her, furiously shaking her head in disagreement. "N- No! It's nothing like that Adrien! I- I got a new phone and my number didn't carry over to it!" She hastily explained, quickly rummaging through the small purse hanging down at her hip. Digging it out she then flashed the screen at Adrien. "I shattered the screen on my other one. Clumsy me." She said, poking fun at herself. "Bu- But I can give my new number to you now if you want it...?" She suggested sheepishly, twiddling her thumbs.

Adrien sat there for a moment, his hazy mind reeling and taking a bit longer than it should've to process the ravenette's words. However once he did comprehend what she had said, he felt the giant crushing weight on his shoulders substantially subside. Her words brought more relief and solace than any medicine or therapy could ever give him. "That's a relief." He sighed and mumbled to himself. Graciously, he then took the phone from the bluenette's hand, his eyes darting back and forth between the existing contact on his phone, and the newly acquired number on her's. Punching in the numbers and saving it into his contacts, Adrien sent Mari a quick text to make sure he hadn't typed anything in wrong.

Relaxing, he slumped down in the seat after handing her phone back. His eyelids felt heavy and willed him to sleep. His head sang in agony with each throbbing and contracting heartbeat, everything too hot, while at the same time everything seemingly too cold. Groaning he pressed his hand to his forehead, his cool fingertips feeling good against his burning skin, the temporary chill providing a slight numbness to the pain. His throat burned and tingled, urging a cough to trickle out of his throat, but Adrien refused to give in to temptation.

Turning his gaze outwards, he studied the world beyond the glass, taking in the shrinking landscape of the Parisian city in the distance. His eyes becoming unfocused, he zoned out, his head slowly beginning to bob up and down as he battled against his sleep deprivation. Just as he had started to drift to sleep, his head lulling to the side, against the cool glass of the widow, he was suddenly jerked back to reality as Alya laid down on the gas, viciously slamming him backwards into the leather seat.

"Woo! Petal to the metal Babe!" Nino cheered as he observed how the small SUV lurched forward and was beginning to swerve and pass multiple other cars.

"Alya slow down!" Marinette called anxiously, sitting on edge of her seat as she frantically watched as the speedometer only seemed to continue to increase. "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?!"

Alya scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Girl, I just hit the freeway! There's no damn way I'm slowing down, do you know how slow all those other cars are driving? Besides I've already calculated everything. If I keep a constant of this speed, we should reach the beach condo in couple of hours and make it there in the late afternoon, if I drive any slower, it'll take even longer." Alya huffed, glaring at her best friend in the rear view mirror.

"All the _other_ cars are going the speed limit!" Marinette argued, "You're going probably _forty-five_ miles over!" She continued to exclaim, clutching onto her seatbelt for dear life.

"My car, my standards, deal with it." Alya shot back arrogantly, earning a sulky pout from the young designer.

The quick swerving from the lane changes nearly made Adrien's uneasy stomach nauseous intiatially, but closing his eyes, he managed to nullify the sensation. Once Alya had reached a more constant speed and there was less inconsistent lane changing, Adrien found his face once again pressed against the window, siphoning the icy temperature of the glass to soothe his aching migraine. Sleep deprivation conquering his will to stay awake, Adrien fell asleep, drool dribbling out of the corner of his mouth as he slept soundly, his chest rising and falling rhythmically.

* * *

"How much do you think a picture of him like that, would sell for?" Alya asked as she peered around her seat, pulling the keys out of ignition. She had her phone in hand as she snapped a picture of the sleeping blond.

"Woah there Babe, that's my bromance Bro you're talking about over there." Nino said defensively, defending the teen model's honor. "Besides you can't do that to Marinette, that'd be like betraying her, auctioning off her man online." Nino said clicking his tongue in disapproval as a snicker threatened to rise out of his throat.

At one point Marinette had gotten out her sketchbook and a pencil to doodle, but she too, now also lay soundly asleep. A half-drawn portrait lying abandoned in her lap, the pencil still limply encased in her hand.

Alya sighed shaking her head at her boyfriend. "So should we wake them up?"

"Well I mean that's debatable. The prince over there is drooling, and Marinette looks so blissful, she'd probably kill us if we ruined her dream."

"Can we just go into the restaurant and get food without them?" Alya suggested, her tone a bit more perky at the suggestion then it should've been.

"Of course not!"

"But I'm _starving_." Alya whined, dramatically slumping in her seat as her bottom lip protruded into a sulky pout. Her stomach then gave a loud growl in compliance, as if to further prove her statement. " _Besides_ , Marinette always orders the _same_ thing every time! And Adrien probably can't even eat fast food because of his 'model diet'!" Alya continued to argue, her resolve dying down into a whine.

Groggily, Adrien opened his eyes, wincing at how stiff his neck felt. His eyes widened in embarrassment once he realized drool had dripped down the side of his mouth. His cheeks began flushing even deeper than his already feverish complexion. Hastily he wiped his mouth against the back of his sleeve. His mind still clogged with sleep, he studied his surroundings slowly, confused about his location. To his right was Marinette, in front of him, he saw two heads butted together; Nino and Alya. He listened to their bickering for a moment, and he seriously considered just getting out of the car and ordering for everyone.

Brusquely, Adrien let out a rough cough, coughing into the crook of his elbow. This caught the two bickering teens' attentions, alerting them of the blond's awakened presence.

Alya let out a nervous laugh as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I totally didn't take any pictures of you while you were sleeping."

Adrien's muscles stiffened. "You what?" He blinked at her in slow confusion. "Did you at least manage to get my get my good side?" He asked jokingly.

"Well if that ' _good_ _side_ ' involves drool, then totally." She giggled, earning a lunge forward from the blond.

"Woah! Woah wait! Give it!" Adrien said, unbuckling his seatbelt and leaning over into the front half of the car, trying to snatch the phone out of Alya's hand.

"Alya... Adrien? What are you guys doing?" Marinette asked groggily.

"Protecting my dignity." Adrien replied without even turning to look at the ravenette.

Nino sighed and shook his head, a gentle smile upturning his lips. "Have fun with that Bro. Mari, I'm going in to get us all some breakfast, you want to come with?"

"Uh, um y- Yeah, sure!"

* * *

Regret. That tumbling, lurching feeling of regret. Adrien felt his stomach twisting in disapproval, leaving a vile taste in the back of his throat, bile slowly rising. He knew he shouldn't of eaten that syrup-drowned pancake, and he knew he shouldn't of eaten that sausage biscuit, but both had just been so enticing with their delicious aromas, and their grease infested content. Adrien's grease deprived diet just couldn't say no. He bit back another gag as his fingers curled around his stomach. Chewing the inside of his cheek, Adrien grew more desperate, knowing that each gag only brought the inevitable closer.

He flinched as Marinette brought a gentle hand to his shoulder. "Adrien are you okay? You're face is really pale, and your cheeks are flushed."

"Fine. I'm fine." He mumbled, concentrating all of his willpower on not throwing up on the girl of his dreams. His pupils dilated as he felt his stomach violently lurch forward. "A- Alya ca- Can you pull over at that gas station please?!" Adrien called in anguish.

"Are you kidding me right now?!" Alya nearly screamed, glaring at the blond through the rearview mirror. "No way! We're only an hour away from our destination!" Almost as if on cue, she frantically swerved the car in front of someone else, cutting them off. Everyone else within the car cringed as the driver Alya cut off, laid down on the horn.

Adrien began to wonder how the hell Alya's car didn't have any significant scratches or dents, considering how she drove. He shook his head, remembering he had more frantic issues to address. "P- Please? I- I um..." He paused trying to think of an excuse that wasn't super embarrassing, but urgent enough to get the auburn haired teen to pull over. "I um... I have to pee!" He declared, lying, shuddering as he felt his stomach do another little flip. His face grew slightly flushed at his own sudden outburst, but he figured it was less embarrassing to lie and say he had to go to the bathroom, than to be honest and declare that he was about to hurl. The blond's fragile ego couldn't handle this situation, not now, not ever.

"No way!" Alya growled through her teeth as she gripped the steering wheel tight enough her knuckles began to turn white. "You should've went at the last rest stop we pulled over at! If you have to go that bad, just use a bottle!"

"Alya Babe," Nino cooed, placing a gentle hand on the teen's tense shoulder. "That was hours ago, and you're only running on a quarter of a tank anyways. We need the gas anyway, so pulling over at that gas station isn't going to kill you."

Alya growled and grumbled a stream of curse words under her breath as she unwillingly moved her foot over to the brake pedal. "Now it'll take forever to get there." She grumbled angrily as she pulled up to a gas pump. In a huff she then angrily got out and slammed the car door, muttering all the way.

Never had Adrien ever been more thankful for Nino and his bright canary yellow shirt. Quickly springing out of the car, Adrien dashed inside the gas station and sprinted towards one of the back restrooms.

Quickly rushing into a stall, he slammed the door shut behind him and frantically fumbled with the lock. Gagging once again, he fell to his knees onto the disgusting grimy floor. A cold sweat running over his body, the blond's stomach lurched forward and Adrien leaned himself forward, his back arching. Adrien shuddered in disgust as he gripped the sides of the porcelain bowl, hard enough his knuckles were turning white, gripping it like his life depended on it. With another gag, and another lurch of his stomach, Adrien unwillingly emptied the contents of his stomach into the porcelain bowl.

Leaning back, pressing the back of his head against the door of the stall, Adrien let out heavy pants. "God..." he muttered running a cold trembling hand through his hair. Standing up on weak, buckling knees, he flushed the toilet and stumbled out of the stall, making his way over to the sinks. He blinked slowly and took in his reflection in the grimy mirror, staring at the pale scrawny blond boy staring back at him. He shook his head and gritted his teeth, turning on the faucet. He cupped his hands and splashed water onto his face, letting out a shaky reluctant sigh.

His whole body still trembling ever-so-slightly, Adrien stepped back through the store and made his way back to the car, his head bowed in defeat.

Climbing back into the back, Adrien gave a weak thumbs up. Half mumbling, half whispering, he then said, "We're good to go." He made a mental note to himself to choke down on some meds whenever they got to wherever they were supposed to be going.

Her voice like grating nails and dripping with sarcasm, Alya barked, "Does _anyone else_ need anything? I'm **_not_ ** pulling over again."

A smirk came across Nino's lips as his fingers inched towards the door handle. "Oh no," He teased, "Looks like I have to take a dump, and it may take a while."

"I'm going to slap you." The auburn haired teen threatened, her glasses glinting viciously like she intended to murder the dj.

"Haha just kidding." Nino said with a nervous laugh as he quickly withdrew his hand from the door handle.

* * *

Dumping his backpack onto the bed, Adrien frantically rummaged through the contents of his bag for the pill bottle he had so carelessly thrown in there just mere hours before. "Where is it? I could've sworn I packed it with me this morning..." Adrien muttered to himself as he slowly began to dig stuff out and set it aside on the bed.

"Wha'dya lookin' for Kid?" Plagg asked floating up from behind the blond.

"Medicine."

"Oh you mean this?" Plagg asked, holding up the particular container Adrien had been looking for.

"Yes, that's exactly it!" The blond then snatched it out of the kwami's small paws. Adrien let out a slight gasp of disbelief, upon finding it was empty. Slowly he turned towards the small feline, his eye twitching as his lips pulled into a tight firm line.

"Oh I ate those a while ago," Plagg explained waving his paw dismissively. "I got hungry and you wouldn't feed me, so I ate some of those little tic tac things in there."

" _Tic tacs_?" Adrien repeated unamused, groaning. Dramatically he collapsed onto his bed and pressed his burning forehead against the crook of his elbow as he muttered complaints about the kwami under his breath. "I'm never going to survive this weekend."

"Aw c'mon Kid I'm sure your breath can't smell _that_ bad."

" _Plagg_." Adrien nearly yelled the kwami's name out of frustration. "Those weren't tic tacs. They were _pills_." He deadpanned. "You're unbelievable!"

He began to wonder if Ladybug's kwami was as incompetent as his was. Exhaling sharply, Adrien shook his head and shoved the empty container back down into the bottom of his bag.

Suddenly, through the door, Adrien heard his name being called. "Yo, Adrien! Are you coming down to the beach with us or what?" It was Nino.

His voice raspy, the model called back in compliance, "Yeah, I'll be out there in a few minutes!" He internally groaned as he pulled his heavy limbs up from off the mattress, practically dragging himself off of the bed. Unlocking the door, he strutted out into the hallway, only to be scolded and pushed back inside by Nino.

"Man are you seriously going to go down onto the beach in jeans and a t-shirt?" The olive skinned boy asked with an eyebrow raised. "Dude, at least change into some shorts or something."

"But I-"

Adrien's bottom lip protruded out into a sulky pout as he stole a glance at his backpack. Unwillingly, he pulled out the reluctantly packed pair of swim trunks. After quadruple checking that the door was locked, and that the curtains were pulled closed, Adrien changed into the swim wear. After stripping off his shirt, and assessing the scars and bruises littering his skin, Adrien immediately discarded the thought of going shirtless. Pulling out a white hooded t-shirt, the blond then slipped it on over his bare skin.

Unlocking the door, he then made his way downstairs and out onto the sandy beachfront, where his best friend already stood waiting. The blond paused, once his bare feet dug into the grainy feel of the sand, its warmth spreading up through his toes and seeping into his veins. He turned his gaze seaward, watching the waves crash into the shore, sea foam crashing against the sand, the water swaying to and fro. He almost would've found the sound of the waves lapping against one another calming, had it not been for the sinking sensation that sparked in the pit of his stomach, and the phantom chill of the water on his skin, as the acrid taste of salt came across his lips. He shuddered at the recollection of events.

"Are you gonna stand there all day, or are you going to help me set up this net?" Nino called, waving his hand at the model from afar, snapping the blond from his trance.

"Yeah sorry, I got distracted." Adrien admitted as he jogged over towards the olive skinned boy. He then proceeded to help Nino set up the net for volleyball.

Stepping back to admire their handiwork, both Adrien and Nino gave high fives. Finally, the girls came jogging out of the house, Marinette cowering behind Alya. Nino let out a low whistle as he elbowed Adrien in the side.

Alya's hair was tied up into a loose messy bun, her glasses ditched for contacts, her two piece bathing suit adorned in ebony polka dots, obviously Ladybug themed. While Marinette on the other hand wore a hot pink two piece, small bows lining the edges of the fabric, her slate hair down, framing the edges of her flushed face.

Adrien couldn't help but gawk in astonishment, amazed at the ravenette's breathtaking appearance. At how well the clothing complimented her curves and her complexion, at how beautiful she looked with her hair down, as well as how well the ocean brought out her cerulean eyes.

"M- Marinette you- You look really pretty." Adrien complimented shyly, his own cheeks flushing. "You should wear your hair down more often." He then offered her an awkward dopey smile.

The designer fidgeted slightly from embarrassment as she thanked the blond for the compliment.

Alya smirked at Marinette, knowing that mere moments earlier, the ravenette had been a frantic mess.

Clapping her hands together, Alya then asked, "So what shall we do first? Volleyball or swimming? Personally I'm up for the latter myself."

Adrien had to physically hide the cringe that threatened to overtake his body at her mere mention of interacting with the water.

"Swimming sounds fun." Marinette agreed.

Nino shrugged in response. "Whatever you want Babe, but just make sure you use this time to mentally prepare yourself for your defeat in volleyball later."

"We'll see about that." Alya replied coyly, glaring at her boyfriend.

Adrien visibly blanched, as the muscles in his back tensed. He wanted no part in swimming. After yesterday, he'd resolved to never set foot in open water again. He'd also vowed to himself to never visit an aquarium again either. Grabbing his designated beach towel, he layed it out for himself and set up an umbrella, creating shade over his small lounge area he had set up. By no means was he going to squash his friends' fun, for he was simply going to just sit out. He was sure a nap would probably do his sickly body good anyway.

Nino frowned as he watched the model set this up, the water lapping up against his sides. He turned to Alya and whispered a few words into her ear, making sidelong glances at the blond as he spoke.

"Adrien, you're not getting into the water?" Nino called, slowly approaching the blond, climbing out of the sea's grasp.

"Nope. I've decide I'm gonna sunbathe instead."

"Won't that ruin your model complexion?" Alya asked slowly, also beginning to approach the blond.

Adrien eyed back and forth between the two, something about the two of them, setting him on edge. "Father's been complaining that I've been looking too pale lately anyways. So I'm sure getting a little tan will do me some good..." he replied, suspicious of the two teens' motives.

Alya then sent a nod in the olive skinned boy's direction, and the next thing Adrien knew, they had lunged at him, and had his arms pinned down. They were then holding him arm in arm, dragging him closer to the depths of the ocean.

"Wh- What are you doing?" Adrien had to fight to keep his voice from trembling. His pupils had dilated, and his breathing had quickened, his heart beginning to contract. He nearly internally panicked the second he felt water on his feet. "St- Stop it!" He thrashed, kicking water about, causing the two teens to nearly let go.

About chest-deep in water, Adrien began to hyperventilate, desperately squeezing his eyes shut to try to forget the water world around him, however the ocean lapping up against his skin, couldn't seem to let him forget. He flinched violently as he felt water strike his face, the taste of sea salt on his lips. Gingerly, he slowly opened his eyes, to find both Alya and Nino splashing him with brute force, soaking him.

Glaring at both of them, Adrien muttered, "I hate both of you." With his hair and his clothes dripping wet, Adrien managed to escape the grasp of the sea. Picking up the towel he had laid out on the sand earlier, he draped it around himself, shivering as he felt a cold chill shoot up his spine.

He grimaced at the clingy feel of his soaked shirt clinging to his skin. He itched to take it off, but there was no way he was going to expose his tattered skin. Nino may of known, but Adrien sure as hell wasn't going to let Mari find out if he could help it. Sitting underneath his umbrella, he leaned back into the sand, being enveloped into its warmth.

Marinette marched up to Alya and Nino, her face slack jawed. "Guys that was mean! Why did you do that to Adrien?!"

"Well he needs to loosen up. We came to the beach to have some fun in the sun! I intend for everyone to have their share of the water and the beach—including your ' _boyfriend_ '." Alya replied, in which in turn Nino only bowed his head in shame.

Overhearing this, Adrien took this as his opportunity for revenge. Sneaking up behind his two previous assailants, he lunged and knocked them both into the water. "Payback!" He called, a smirk upon his lips as a laugh bubbled out of his throat. His heart nearly melted at the sound of Marinette's tinkling giggle alongside him.

"Well played." Nino said, spitting out a stream of water.

* * *

Adrien panted heavily, sweat beading and trailing down his face. He dove forward in vain attempting to snag the volleyball and hit it upwards so Nino could spike it. Although, this attempt was fruitless, ending with the ball hitting the sand and kicking up dust. His limbs heavy and his movements sluggish, Adrien pulled himself up off the ground with an immense amount of effort. Running his forearm across his burning forehead, the blond wiped the sweat from his brow.

"C'mon man where's your usual pep! I need your best effort! My paycheck is on the line here!" Nino whined in anguish as he watched Alya and Marinette cheer at their scored point.

"I'm...sorry." Adrien choked out between pants. They weren't even into double digit points yet, and Adrien was already exhausted.

After this charade continued on, with Adrien diving just a few seconds too late or the blond failing to spike the ball over the net, the guys only managed to snag a mere few points of their own, the game inevitably ending in the girls' favor.

"Where's your pride now Nino?" Alya asked snidely, one hand on her hip, as she practically cackled. "Now pay up." She greedily held her hand out, flexing her fingers, a condescending smile plastered across her features.

Nino fell to his knees, nearly sniffling, as he reluctantly withdrew a folded slip of paper from his pocket, a check. "Goodbye brand new video games." He whispered as the auburn haired teen snatched the check from his hand.

Adrien felt sorry for his best friend, he knew their loss was his fault. If only he hadn't been sick, he could've played better. He looked at the olive skinned boy with melancholy eyes, pursing his lips. He had inadvertently let someone else down again. _I'm such a failure_ , Adrien thought dejectedly to himself.

His vision swirling and his head pounding with every throbbing heartbeat, Adrien staggered forwards towards his group of friends. "I'm sorry Nino-" He paused as black seemed to ebb its way into the corners of his vision, branching and spidering out, until the only thing he could see was black. Maybe his fever had finally fried his brain to mush. His sense of balance distorted and impaired, Adrien fell forward, collapsing dramatically, a heap of sand flying upwards at his impact with the ground. _Wither me away like the sand at my skin, let the wind carry my remnants, with this fever, maybe I'll melt like an Irken in water_ , Adrien thought forlornly as he fell unconscious.

"Adrien?!" The three of his friends cried out in unison, rushing to the blond's side.

"He's burning up!" Marinette exclaimed as she brought a hand to his forehead. "Nino, can you carry him? We need to get him inside."

Nino nodded affirmatively as he picked the model up with ease. Carrying him on his back, the olive skinned boy then carried the blond indoors, setting him down on the couch.

Marinette taking command of the situation, she strode towards the bathroom assembling a washcloth, then proceeding to run it under the faucet to dampen it. Folding it, she then gingerly brushed back the blond's sweat dampened bangs, then proceeding to gingerly place the washcloth on his forehead.

"Alya, do you mind running to the nearest pharmacy and picking a few things up?" Marinette asked as she hastily scribbled down the names of items onto a pad of paper. She then ripped it out of the notebook, folding the piece of paper into a neat folded square.

The auburn haired teen stole a glance at the model, then back at the designer. She then gave a hesitant nod as she grabbed her car keys from the counter, taking the slip of paper from Mari, throwing on a sundress over her current wear.

A gentle flush filling and spreading across her cheeks, Marinette then turned towards Nino. "C- Can you change his s- shirt?" She asked sheepishly. When Nino gave her a strange look, Marinette's hands frantically waved as she elaborated. "I- If he keeps wet clothes on and they dry, it'll probably make his fever worse."

Nino gave an expression of understanding, and at this, Nino climbed upstairs and walked towards the blond's designated room. He paused at the doorframe noticing how everything had already been carelessly dumped out onto the bed. Digging through what was on the bed, he snagged a clean shirt, but flinched as he felt the back of his hand graze something soft and warm.

Plagg nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden unexpected contact. Acting quickly, the small Kwami dove into the depths of Adrien's bag, quickly burying himself in one of the many side pockets.

Confused, and sure he was delusional, Nino silently rummaged through the blond's stuff again. He paused as he came upon a container of pills. Slowly picking it up and inspecting it, he noticed the container was light; empty. Surely Adrien wasn't a drug addict right? Shaking the thought from his head, Nino convinced himself he was hallucinating the warmth and replaced the container.

Once Nino arrived downstairs, Marinette stepped out into the kitchen, firing up the stove as she pulled a few ingredients from the fridge, and spices from the cabinets. She hummed quietly to herself as she made up a delicious concoction.

At one point while she was still a child, her Mother had once been a doctor before she decided to become a full time stay-at-home mom, deciding to help her Father in the bakery. Through the years, Marinette had picked up tricks and remedies to various illnesses after watching the practices of her mother.

* * *

Groaning, Adrien rolled over onto his side, curling his legs up closer to him. With hesitation, he slowly cracked his eyes open, wincing at the onslaught of sudden flooding light. The aromatic scent of soup filled his nostrils, each inhale earning a relaxed sigh from the blond. Rubbing at his forehead, he found a fever patch perched across the warm patch of skin. Gingerly peeling it off, he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the couch. Sleep had done his illness wonders.

Off in the kitchen he could overhear the tv playing, spouting off some comedy sitcom, along with the laughter of his friends. Almost timidly, he leaned against the doorframe, peering into the kitchen.

Nino was the first to notice him. "And he lives!" The olive skinned boy proclaimed proudly, his mouth halfway stuffed with food. "I seriously thought you were gonna die there man. But due to the miracles Mari pulled, you have been resurrected!"

Alya rolled her eyes playfully, shaking her head as her lips upturned into a smirk. "He was never dead."

"Shush! This is a touching moment!" Nino said, clutching a hand at his heart.

Marinette blushed, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I wouldn't call it 'working miracles' but you were in pretty bad shape Adrien. You had a fever of a 104 degrees."

The blond cringed as she spat that number out at him.

"But she made homemade chicken noodle soup just for you blondie, so I believe you owe her a little gratitude." Alya stated, shooting a wink at the bluenette. "Like I don't know... maybe a date?" Alya forged a cough, "Oh sorry I mean, 'hanging out together'."

"A- Alya!" Marinette protested, clearly embarrassed as heat traced up her cheeks and intensified.

"A- A date?" Adrien repeated nervously, shooting a glance at the bright red designer.

The auburn haired teen sighed. "Or not lover boy, that's fine too I guess."

"N- No you're fine Adrien! You don't have to feel obligated to thank me in any way." Marinette quickly objected, frantically waving her hands, earning a sigh from Alya.

Adrien managed a weak uneasy nervous laugh. Striding towards the pot on the stove, he removed the lid and peered at its contents. Immediately once its cover had been removed, a cloud of steam billowed and rose out of the pot, carrying the delectable aroma of the soup with it. Within, a pure angelic golden broth was present, with limp noodles poking out here and there. He nearly caught himself salivating at the aroma.

Grabbing a bowl for himself, he then found himself sitting and eating with his friends.

Adrien wasn't sure what spices Marinette had used, or what she had put in the soup, but it was almost like witchcraft. He didn't feel nauseous or feverish in the slightest, in fact he felt better than he had all day. He felt like a playful kitten ready to pounce and swat at any moving object that dared to grace his presence.

The blond then proceeded to once again thank the bluenette for her kindness, most definitely praising the meal. _If I could eat cooking like Marinette's all day, I might would actually eat three meals a day and some extra_ , the model thought to himself, thinking about his pathetic excuse for nourishment at home. Now that he thought about it, the last time he had eaten something home cooked, was the night before everything had started to go wrong—the night his mother had went missing.

Suddenly, the four teenagers' gazes were snapped towards the tv as a breaking news report interrupted the channel they had been watching. Lines of text scrolled along the bottom as multiple live camera images were flashed along the screen at the same time. Multiple reporters from various different news companies were frenzied and panicked as flames or other various means of destruction were seen behind them, clearly live at the scene.

"Multiple akuma attacks have sprouted all over France—not just Paris but multiple other cities all along the country. The akumas are spreading and wreaking havoc destroying buildings and injuring hundreds of civilians. The rate of growth is spreading rapidly like an infection, but one question remains, where are France's beloved heroes? Where are Ladybug and Chat Noir?" A news anchor reported, standing in front of the collage of live footage.

A sulky pout formed across Alya's mouth as she let out a huff of disbelief at the sudden influx of akumas. She was muttering to herself, shaking her head as she scrolled through a forum section of the Ladyblog on her phone.

Suddenly a loud alarm sounded from within the tv studio on screen, moments later screams pierced the air and the ceiling began to collapse in, burying the studio and the equipment in rubble and dust. Adrien flinched as he heard the clash of metal on metal resonate from the speakers of the tv, a few mere seconds later, the camera lens was coated and sprayed in a dark garnet liquid, a gurgling, choking sound heard before the reception faded to static.

"H- Help me." A voice called weakly, as the choking and gurgling slowly subsided into silent desolation.

The blond shuddered, his pupils dilating as his eyes stared intently at the static. Why hadn't he been there? Paris—No, _France_ had needed him, but where had he been? He had been lounging on the beach. Hundreds of innocent civilians had been injured because he hadn't been there to stop the akumas, and God knows what had just happened to that poor young reporter, all because he had neglected his duty as a protector.

Gritting his teeth, he immediately stood up from his place at the table, and quickly made his way up the stairs without a word. Closing the door behind him, he grabbed his backpack and messily stuffed everything within. "Plagg, get charged up, we're leaving asap."

The small kwami flew out of the blond's bag, stretching his spine, ears twitching in annoyance as he let out a yawn. "Going? You just got here." He muttered, his voice still groggy from sleep.

"France needs us, apparently akumas are everywhere." Adrien said dejectedly as he zipped up his bag, then proceeding to sling it over his back.

Plagg crossed his arms. "And how exactly do you plan to get back to Paris? It took several hours just to drive here." The feline deadpanned.

"Plagg, is that even a question? You and I both know that as Chat Noir, I'm _purr_ fectly capable of saving the day!" Adrien bragged, flexing one of his arms.

The kwami rolled his eyes, holding back a laugh as he darted into the side pocket of the bag. "Whatever you say Kid."

With that, the model rushed down the stairs, and turned to his friends, holding a phone in his left hand just to dramatize his lie. "I'm sorry guys, but I have to go, Father's in danger and he needs me with him as soon as possible." Adrien lied, faking an expression to help convey his facade. "I promise I'll text you!" Without giving any further elaboration, he dashed out the door, making his way away from the beach condo, into a thick patch of trees. Once sure he was hidden, he summoned his transformation.

Marinette shifted uncomfortably, glancing anxiously from the tv to the foot of the stairs. She had no idea how she was going to be able to concoct a scheme to escape without Alya being suspicious of her. Feeling a familiar buzz from her pocket, she pulled her phone out and found a text greeting her from the lock screen. It was from Nathanael. She winced at how cruel this would be to abuse him like this, but lying, she took this as the perfect opportunity, to make a getaway excuse. "Oh I'm sorry my Mom just texted," She started, flashing her phone to show the text, but moving it quickly enough that the sender's name couldn't be read. "They're really short of help at the bakery because of the influx of bread being sold due to civilian panic, since no one knows how long it'll be until Ladybug and Chat Noir show up. So they really need some extra help with the baking." She offered a sheepish, and hopefully convincing, smile. "So I'll see you around Alya and Nino."

And just as quickly as Adrien had, she dashed out the door, and soon after invoked her own transformation.

Alya turned and arched an eyebrow at Nino, eyes slightly narrowed. Marinette was her best friend, so she'd never pry the answer out of her, but Alya knew something was off. It was just too suspicious for both of them to suddenly up and leave at the same time. She decided to brush the matter off for now, but she knew for a fact, that _**if** there was_ in fact a trail of breadcrumbs to follow, she would not leave any stone unturned.

* * *

 _ **Side note: I'm going to need a surplus of akumas for an upcoming chapter, so please feel free to shoot me up with an akuma idea in a review.**_

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! I love feedback, so please feel free to drop a review, favorite, or follow. I'm still not quite sure where exactly I want to take this story, so there's my reasoning for all of the 'filler' chapters lately, and I made an Invader Zim reference if anyone caught it (My current obsession)... Again, I'm sorry about my long absence. Back into the corner of shame and sleep deprivation I go.**

 **-Candy Craver out**


	12. Forged In Fire

**_Chapter 12: Forged In Fire_**

 **A/N: As usual, thank you guys so much for all the support! While I was away, I can't believe we've reached so many follows! I'm sorry for such a long hiatus... honestly I hadn't intended to go this long without updating, but writer's block hit me like a freight train and sapped out all of my inspiration and creativity to write. Then the next thing I knew guard camp and band camp stomped me down, and on top of that I was crushed with depression after a couple of misfortunes that occurred over the summer, which left me devastated and an emotional wreck. Before I even knew it, color guard sucked up all of my summer, and I was met head on with school, and I've recently lost a family member. So as of now, life has been kind of hectic trying to juggle keeping my good grades and staying on top of my AP classes, while trying to wrangle 3 hour practices everyday and competitions every weekend. I'm a sleep deprived uncreative blob, and I am** ** _so so so_** **sorry for going so many months without updating. Anyways, enough of my rambling, however for those of you who have stuck with my sporadic updating schedule as of late, thank you. Also I will try to update more frequently and at the very least, try to push out at least one update, if not more, every month. Be warned there is minimal editing for this chapter.**

 **I'd like to give shoutouts to** ** _MarinetteAgreste107_** **, a guest who went by "** ** _Dan_** **",** ** _Tawnypelt37_** **, and** ** _BelovedDarkness648_** **because they all suggested potential akumas in a previous chapter {I really appreciate those of you who made suggestions, though since it's been so long you probably don't even remember now...}**

* * *

Gabriel chewed on his bottom lip as he flipped through the live security feed of the mansion on his phone. He was not panicking. Gabriel Agreste simply did not panic. Okay, he _was_ panicking. Sure that he had just missed a camera, he looked through the feed again. His heart plummeted into his stomach upon noticing that his son was nowhere to be found.

"That damn kid I swear..." he mumbled to himself, tightly gripping the edges of his phone. Out of instinct, Gabriel dialed for a certain American brunette. He impatiently thrummed his fingers against his thigh, anxiously waiting for someone to pick up. Much to his dismay he was redirected to voicemail and was prompted to leave a message in the meantime. His fingers clenching even tighter around the device, Gabriel let out an aggravated sigh, shaking his head.

Excusing himself from the meeting room, and stepping down into an empty, abandoned corridor, Gabriel pulled up the chain of a necklace from underneath his shirt, pulling it out so it were now visible on the outside of his shirt. The pendant was like a small glass jar hooked onto the silver chain, within the transparent glass, multiple dark ominous winged butterflies fluttered within the crammed compact space. He had managed to create and alter properties of the glass with the help of an akuma he had summoned earlier on, making the material un-phasethroughable. He'd even taken the liberty of already draining their purity before he had encompassed them within the container.. He knew it was risky to wear it, the accessory a potential threat to revealing his alter ego, but something about being constantly shrouded in darkness gave him a slight thrill of exhilaration. He'd come to the conclusion that if anyone asked about it, he'd blow it off with the explanation that it was just a new fashion design he was testing out.

Summoning his transformation sequence with extreme caution, he then unscrewed the cork of the glass pendent, letting a few of the dark winged butterflies squirm out of the container, regaining their normal size upon exit.

Chuckling quietly to himself, steepling his hands, Hawkmoth released the akumas, a dark smirk coming across his lips. "Taint their innocent souls and let them succumb to the darkness." He whispered as he watched them flutter and scatter about, destined to bring upon chaos and destruction.

He had made a deal in exchange for power, newfound corruption and malevolent intent coursing through his veins, sustaining his seemingly otherwise fragile existence. Finding Adrien was his first priority, but once he had his insolent child out of the way, he could focus solely on scrounging up the two final puzzle pieces he needed to obtain true happiness; The miraculouses of creation and destruction, owned by the two beings that were the bane of his entire newfound purpose.

 **X~X~X**

Panting, Chat arrived at the scene of one the depicted akuma attacks. The fresh coppery scent of blood filled his nostrils every time he inhaled alongside the smell of ash, and all of the destruction and rubble nearly made his stomach churn. He shuddered as he began to imagine how many desperate civilians were trapped underneath all of the building remnants, writhing in agony and crying out in pain and fear, or even worse how many had been massacred due to the terrorism. Oh God he didn't dare to want to think about the carnage that had occurred due to his blind negligence. He swallowed the hard lump in his throat, the wind lashing across his face and whipping his hair, causing blond locks to sway away from his face. His stance uneasy, he readjusted his slacking grip on his staff, looking out beyond, at the skyline of burning buildings, each one slowly desecrating and toppling over one by one, like a row of dominoes. If he hadn't of known better, he would've assumed all hell had broke loose.

Pursing his lips he leapt onto the dilapidated streets below—which was more like cracks and chunks of boulders at this point. "Is anyone out here?!" He called, cupping his gloved hands around his mouth to project his voice. His ears twitched furiously and anxiously, awaiting any humane sound, whether it be a grunt or a groan, or an 'I'm here'.

"H- Help me." A voice called hoarsely off in the distance. Chat had barely picked up on it, but he _had_ heard it.

Quickly, he sprinted to where he was sure the sound had come from. His eyes scanning the wreckage, he spotted a hand that twitched ever so slightly from underneath two collapsed beams. Stepping closer his eyes traveled past the hand to the upper half of a civilian, pinned underneath the pillars. His face paled at the sight of blood pooling on the floor around their abdomen, the patch of scarlet only growing, slowly being fed more and more by its source.

"Ch- Chat Noir!" The civilian choked out weakly, outstretching their hand towards them. "Don't just stand there! Save me!"

Snapping the feline out of his trance, Chat quickly rushed to the man's side. Exhaling deeply, he attempted to raise one of the beams, and he managed to raise it just enough for the man to snake out from where he had been pinned.

"Were most able to evacuate?" The blond asked meekly, his eyes searching the victim's for any sort of consolation, consolation that deep down, he knew he wouldn't find.

The man grimly shook his head. "The attacks came out of nowhere and were upon us before anyone even realized it."

The hero's ears drooped and his pupils grew wide. He began to question himself again, why hadn't he been here? Suddenly realization dawned on him. Desperately his ears rose again, twitching in every which direction to pick up on the sound he wanted to hear the most right now. Sirens. Why was there the lack of wailing sirens? The lack of blaring ambulances and fire trucks?

Biting his lip, Chat forged another question. "Where are all of the ambulances? And where's the fire department?"

"An akuma by the name of Enviro destroyed all of the transportation. This got rid of all emergency vehicles as well." The man replied, clutching his main wound. "They griped on and on about pollution and CO2 emission or something..."

"So medical teams can't get to the injured..." Chat murmured quietly to himself. "Damn it."

Gritting his teeth, he clutched his baton tightly. "Get to safety, Ladybug and I will solve this problem as quickly as we can. Hopefully once she casts miraculous cure, that'll fix everything and it'll heal all of the injured and- and bring back those who have befell misfortune.. and have- passed on." Chat fumbled with his final words, his face solemn.

Once Chat had tied off the man's wound, the victim nodded affirmatively and set refuge to one of the few akuma shelters scattered around the city.

Swallowing thickly, the blond exhaled deeply, inevitably inhaling the horrid stench of burning rubbish. "My Lady, please be safe." He murmured, turning his head skyward, the once azure sky, now hazy and hidden by black ominous rising smoke. Luminous green eyes eying the burning horizon one last time, a scowl surfaced across his face as he inadvertently curled his fists, the claws of his gloves sinking into his palms.

As he was getting ready to leap and propel himself with his staff, a glint caught his eyes. Lowering his stance, he paused, slowly, but cautiously approaching the said shimmer of light. Before he knew it, his own luminous neon eyes were met with dark violet ones, something sinister swirling deep within them. He winced as he felt something blunt and heavy strike his gut, winded, he doubled over, clutching his abdomen as he inadvertently stumbled backwards.

"Looking for something Fleabag?" A voice hissed from the shadows, slowly stepping out, a condescending smirk tainting their lips. Chat eyed the man wearily as the dim lighting slowly revealed and illuminated more and more of the figure, until the reddish orange flames cast their light upon the akuma before him. Drinking in the details, the blond noted that he was dressed in a green cloak, hood extended over their head, the tail of the cloak littered in intricate swirling floral patterns. Next his eyes glazed over the blunt wooden staff the akuma was swinging between his fingers, a bright emerald crystal shaped like a leaf dangling off the end.

"Name's Vyne Striker, and I believe you have something I want." Vyne stated rather pointedly, as he extended an index finger forward, eying the ring that was locked tightly against Chat's hand.

Tensing, Chat gripped his own staff tighter, tight enough he was sure his knuckles were turning white. "And what makes you think I'll give it to you?" Chat asked coyly, a hand perched on his hip arrogantly. "I can't just _leaf_ this thing in the wrong hands."

"I believe this may change your mind." Vyne said chuckling as he yanked dark slate hair roughly, as he threw a certain scarlet clad heroine forward on her knees. Vines tightly bound her limbs together, ensnaring her in the web of ivy green flora, the coils threatening to strangle her with each thrash or struggle. Muffled sounds of defiance rang their way out of the maze of vines gagged across her mouth.

Chat's pupils dilated as a gasp penetrated his lips. "M- My Lady!" He thrust a gloved hand towards her, his eyes racked with anger as anxiety and adrenaline flooded his veins. He grit his teeth, trembling from rage. Seeing her bound and gagged, defiant yet helpless, struck Chat too close to home. If he could help it, never would he ever let anyone endure the same pain and emotional trauma he bore. "DON'T YOU DARE HURT HER!"

"Ah!" The akuma clicked his tongue as he continued to twirl the wooden staff one handed, the green glint beginning to irritate Chat. "No harm shall be done to the young lady, that is, as long as we can settle this peacefully. I propose a trade, a simple exchange. Your miraculous and her's as a package in exchange for her safe release of freedom."

The blond gritted his teeth, eying between his partner and the filthy greedy smirk upon the akuma's face. He hated that hungry stare, those eyes that pried into him with the confidence of imminent victory. His mind reasoned that he should take the offer, give Hawkmoth what he wanted; Ladybug and Marinette, those two were his everything, and in his heart, he would do anything if it meant he could protect either of them, even if it meant going to hell and back and selling his soul to the devil. Although, his instincts were stronger than that sense of moral protection. His instincts and his confidence had been tested time and time again, forged in the fires of hell, both reinforced in armored titanium plating. With renewed vigor, he knew this wasn't anything that he couldn't handle. He knew his partner, and he was confident deep down, regardless of how insecure he felt leaving her in the hands of the enemy, he knew she was headstrong and a force to be reckoned with. She wasn't a quitter, and neither was he.

 _Forged in fire, from the ashes we rise._

Briefly locking eyes with bright cerulean, Chat digested his doubts, and regained his stance. "Sorry but with all of these akumas running amok, we don't have _thyme_ for that."

Vyne Striker shrugged, an unsettling smirk settling across his lips, well I suppose we'll settle this the hard way then." Then he slammed the end of his staff hard against the asphalt, a nearly blinding neon green beam of light erupting from where the staff had struck the ground.

Involuntarily shielding his eyes from the bright flash, Chat squinted as he was now met with a large menacing creature defiantly standing in his path. Eyes widening, the feline let out a low whistle of acknowledgment. "That's _purr_ ty impressive." He admitted eyeing the creature up and down, taking in how vines delicately wrapped and twisted around to form the shape of a minotaur, the newly summoned creature stretching almost twice his height, eyes burning crimson, deep within the coils of green.

"Vyneotaurs." The akuma said with a smirk.

Suddenly without warning, Chat watched in disbelief as vines shot out from the vyneotaur's hands, almost like webs from Spider-Man, encasing his partner in a cage created from the greenery. He stole a knowing glance into his Lady's eyes, and that shimmer in that bluebell ocean along with the subtle head nod, he knew she already had a plan.

She needed a decoy, something to distract Vyne and his minion so she could escape.

Readjusting his grip on his baton, Chat blindly dashed forward, letting out a battle cry as he began to swing his staff about wildly like a baseball bat, thrashing its metal body against the vyneotaur's middle.

Chat let out a slight sound of triumph as he saw the vines unravel and snap, forming a heap on the ground. Letting out a cry of victory, he smirked over his shoulder at Vyne Striker as he childishly stuck his tongue out. "That's it? I was expecting something a lot more challenging. I guess your monsters are all bark and no bite." Chat said with a shrug.

"Oh no, no, no, Chat Noir, don't be so ludicrous, I was simply being courteous and letting you make the first move." With this the akuma then slammed his staff down multiple times, summoning a horde of vyneotaurs.

With this, Chat scoffed, his arrogance getting the best of him as he extended his baton, effectively stabbing multiple through the core of their vine bodies.

"This is child's play-" The blond started, but his brows furrowed in confusion as he watched the spliced vines reconnect themselves with a crackling and popping sound, like the crunch of fallen autumn foliage. He yelped as one completely mended itself and charged at him like an enraged bull, horns wickedly sharp, appearing much like enlarged rose thorns. Just narrowly avoiding collision, Chat felt cold sweat beads trail down the edge of his face, the side of his leather uniform now harboring a slit exposing some of his skin.

Audibly gulping, he hastily thrashed his baton at the horde of enraged vyneotaurs, hoping to slice them to ribbons. Panic momentarily settled in his system, coursing through his veins and spreading like wildfire as he watched in horror as thorns peppered down from above, as all of the individual vyneotaurs were engulfed into one another, forming a single gargantuan vyneotaur, its size nearly half the height of a skyscraper.

Instinctively covering his head as the shower of thorns rained down from above, he rolled for cover. Shaking his head, he tilted his head back, taking in the full size of the creature. "It's definitely not a _mini_ -taur now." He muttered. He panicked and narrowly dived out of the way from being impaled by the now charging vyneotaur's horns, or to be crushed beneath its weight. He felt his shoulders raise into a shudder as a multitude of glass bursting filled his ears as the being rammed into a glass office structure.

A wicked smirk suddenly wove its way onto Chat's features as he watched the ivy creature let out grunts and snarls of frustration as it attempted to free its horns from where they had gotten stuck on the frame of the building. Taking the opportunity, Chat used his baton to scale up to the height of the head of the Minotaur, climbing up from behind. Landing a flip from midair onto the top of the creature's head, Chat buckled himself in for the ride to come, his fingers ripping into the tangle of vines furiously, knotting his hands into the greenery. His knuckles white from how desperately he was clinging onto the vyneotaur, he whipped the current slacking vine his fingers dug into, like reigns, effectively making the creature let out an aggravated huff, as a deep roar permeated and rippled through the air.

The blond hung on for dear life as the bull like creature bucked and rammed at anything and everything in an anguish attempt to be rid of its assailant.

Vyne, too preoccupied in communicating with Hawkmoth, was too oblivious to notice his very own creation stampeding at him and the cage that withheld Ladybug at full force, horns aligned to take out the vine imprisonment.

"Giddy up!" Chat cried childishly as he gave another lash of his 'reigns', gently nudging the tip of his boot against the Being's head, seemingly only further enraging the Minotaur.

Vyne's eyes widened as he stumbled backwards, falling onto his backside, mouth agape as he uselessly held his staff out in front of him as a makeshift shield. In desperate haste and trembling hands he pulled himself back onto his feet, using the staff to support himself. Slamming the blunt wooden staff onto the concrete, the ground beneath Chat and the Minotaur-like creature crumbled and began to rupture, a large crack formulating in their path, a large wild floral snake slithering its way out of the large cracks. It's body consisted of a long slender flexible stem large and perpetually sharp thorns littering all over its exterior, a cobra-like head formulated out of gargantuan stiff ruby rose petals, transitioning to black petals near where the 'face' of the snake would be, the same ominous glowing eyes bleeding through the thick flora.

Drawing back to strike, the cobra-like creature lunged at the vyneotaur, sinking its deadly nightshade berry formed fangs, into one of the minotaur's legs. The snake letting out a vengeful hiss, as its serpent tail whipped almost tauntingly back and forth.

To Chat's horror, his 'stallion' let out a gruff cry of distress as it furiously shook its head, its pace dramatically slowing. The being slowed to metaphorical crawl, its two legs wobbly and unsteady as it continued to teeter and stumble itself forward in Chat's designated direction, vigor seemingly dissipating, nightshade poison seeping through the water vessels of the vines and quickly spreading up throughout the rest of the creature.

Vyne let out an almost too anxious, nervous chuckle as he wiped the sweat from his brow as he extended his staff, pointing at the Minotaur. "You dare bite the hand that feeds you?"

"And you dare to turn your back on your captive?" Ladybug remarked from behind him, a canister of potent acid held firmly in her hands, the former cage now sizzling as it slumped to the ground, acid eating through the vines, her former bonds also now lay limply at her feet, wrangled loosely around her ankles. "Bite this." She said smugly with a smirk, as she pointed the nozzle of the sprayer at the tail of the serpent.

With a sizzle, and a deadly venomous hiss from the serpent, it spazzed erratically, it's body quivering and jerking, tying itself into coils in desperate aguish as the corrosive acid ate away at its very skin.

"Damn..." Vyne muttered, his hand clenching tightly around the wooden staff. As he went to slam the staff against the ground to summon another creature, Chat suddenly came crashing from above, screaming at the top of his lungs all the way, as his arms swung about in a wild frenzy, the wind lashing against his face. He closed his eyes and braced himself for impact, all of his organs plummeting into his stomach.

One moment he had been perched atop the vyneotaur, albeit unsteady, but nonetheless a steadfast grip onto the vines. The next thing he knew the faint smell of something sharp and acrid and almost certainly potent, entered his nostrils and with another outraged cry from the Minotaur, the next thing he knew he was falling, the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach heavy. As he plummeted, he watched as the Being seemingly crumpled and withered before him, vines withering, becoming brittle and collapsing in on themselves.

His breath hitching and his heart hammering a hundred miles a minute, he opened his eyes as he felt a sharp jerk against his ankle, a slight 'bounce' elevating him before he was forcefully pulled down by gravity again. He winced as his fist collided with something solid. His vision inverted, he tilted his head forward once the bouncing motion had ceased. His mouth fell open in shock and subtle amazement as he comprehended what had just happened. Miraculously, a vine had been snagged tightly around his right ankle, enabling an adrenaline filled 'bungee jump'.

Letting out a heavy sigh of relief, he then tilted his head back, only to notice he had collided with Vyne Striker, who was now knocked out cold thanks to Chat's crash landing.

"Nice work Chat." Ladybug congratulated, trying to hold back a snicker as her partner dangled upside down helplessly. Approaching the now unconscious akuma, she then stomped on the leaf shaped emerald crystal, the gem shattering upon impact. She then proceeded to purify the akuma.

A tight line fell across her lips as she observed that the purification only slightly averted the damage, a mere crumb in the whole scheme of things.

However her attention was diverted as Chat let out a yelp as the remains of the vine holing him up, snapped and disappeared. The leather clad hero winced as he sat up, slowly brushing himself off as he got to his feet. "Princess." He greeted in a flirtatious manner with a bow.

"Thank you Chat, but this damsel doesn't need a prince." She said gently, pushing him away with a lighthearted grin.

"But my lady, you had me at _aloe_." The blond said with a smirk, a heavy weight lifted off his chest knowing his partner was safe.

Ladybug groaned rolling her eyes, "Chat we purified that akuma, therefore all puns for that battle are all null and void."

The leather clad hero visibly deflated ever-so-slightly, however his eyes suddenly lit up as a defiant smirk played across his lips. "But that guy was probably just a misunderstood florist, did you ever think maybe he just wanted people to _photosympathize_ with him?" He asked slyly.

Ladybug let out a hefty sigh, shaking her head as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

They both paused as the scarlet clad heroine's earrings began to beep in warning. "Chat I need to recharge my kwami, so don't you dare look!" Ladybug huffed before she used her yo-to to propel herself upwards onto a closed off balcony.

"But-" Chat briefly followed behind her, although reluctantly. Seeing the seriousness in her eyes and hearing the firmness in her voice as she spoke his name, he knew there would be no negotiations. With a hesitant sigh, he used his own staff to lift himself onto the overhang of the roof that hung above the balcony.

After a few moments, he was met with a bright flash of pink from below him. He paced uneasily, his lips pursed. The identity of the girl of his dreams was literally right below his nose. Maybe... Maybe he could just hang over the edge of the roof and steal a quick peek...

As tempting as it was though, he knew deep down he was better than that.. He knew Ladybug would reveal herself when she was ready. Was finding out her identity _really_ worth risking it all and having her hate him?

With a sigh of defeat, his shoulders slumped, he resolved to sitting on the edge of the roof, his legs dangling off the edge of the building.

"Hey L.B.?" He asked meekly, his voice low, and almost solemn.

His partner let out a hum of acknowledgement as she handed another cookie to her kwami.

"Do you feel like we let down France? Since neither of us were here in time to prevent anything..."

"Well..." she paused uneasily, the grim realization of reality crashing down on her. With a shudder, she shook and cleared her head. "We- We'll fix everything, l-like we always do." She said, trying to mask the uncertainty in her voice, trying to remain optimistic.

"Y'know if it wasn't buildings that were burning, these flames would be almost pretty..." Chat trailed off, luminous green eyes studying the skyline of destruction. "This looks like a scene straight out of a video game," his voice then lowered to whisper, "But it's not." He gritted his teeth. _Damn it Adrien, you're a chosen one, you need to quit fucking everything up_ , he thought.

"Tikki, spots on!"

Chat blinked slowly, cocking his to one side. "Tikki...?" He repeated in uncertainty, flinching as his partner shot up from below, to stand beside him.

"Tikki's my kwami." The bluenette answered to his unspoken curiousity. "Is your kwami still okay? Does she need to recharge at all?"

" _He_." The blond couldn't help but correct, a grin playing across his lips as he could vividly see how much that would've set the feline off. "My kwami's name is Plagg. Did you just assume my kwami's gender?" He asked jokingly.

Ladybug blushed in embarrassment, her voice quickly becoming flustered. "I- I'm sorry Mr. Cat God I didn't mean to offend you!" Clearing her throat, cheeks still flushed, she then repeated her previous question. "S- So is _he_ ," She started slowly, being sure to enunciate, "Still doing okay?"

The blond snickered, "Yeah, I didn't end up using cataclysm."

Ladybug sighed, both her and Chat's demeanor declining once they were brought back to the situation at hand. "I have a feeling we'll have to be doing this a lot today..." The scarlet clad heroine trailed off as her bluebell irises lingered on the wreckage once again.

 **X~X~X**

Hawkmoth scowled, his fists clenched and trembling from anger at his sides. "Is it really that hard to find a teenager who has his face on practically every billboard?!" He yelled through the communication line he'd established with an akumatized civilian. "Find the damn brat! What do you mean you can't find him?!"

Frustrated he cut the line of communication with the current akuma he had been speaking with. He then formulated another connection, this time a three way communication line. "Grave Digger, Grim Reaper, have you found what I've asked for?" Hawkmoth paused, a slight grin came across his face. "Excellent, bring the parts back to me. Don't you **_dare_** damage her face though. Protect the cargo with your lives!"

Once he cut the connection once again, he let out a dark maniacal laugh, a sinister grin settling firmly across his lips. For _once_ something was finally going right. "Don't worry dear, I'll stitch you up. I'll reform you into the model you've always wanted to be." Hawkmoth said in an almost melancholy manner as he drew out a golden pocket watch, a fancy cursive 'A' engraved on the cover. As he flipped it open, the face of the clock held the reflection of a young woman with golden angelic hair, her jawline sharp, her face small and petite, her eyes a bright emerald. The photograph resided on the inside of the cover. Hawkmoth's gloved finger trailed over the women's jawline. "Once I have all the pieces and limbs I need, I'll make you beautiful again my dear, that's a promise."

* * *

 **A/N: Again apologies for going MIA again, but as I said previously, I will try to get back into the flow of writing again, so I'm really gonna try to push out at the very least, at least one update a month. Anyways, thanks for reading, and feel free to favorite, follow, and review, any feedback is greatly appreciated.**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**

 ** _This chapter's akumas were brought to you by: BelovedDarkness648 (Enviro) and Tawnypelt37 (Vyne Striker)_**


	13. Crossfire

_**Chapter 13: Crossfire**_

 **A/N: Dude. I watched some episodes of the new season and holy shit the first episode. This started out as a kinda AU story on my part, but it makes everything so much closer to canon lol (I'm actually inadvertently pretty proud of myself). Ngl I'm seriously loving the new season so far. Fair warning though, this chapter gets pretty dark in the latter half.**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**

* * *

Flesh scraped across smooth concrete flooring, pairs of feet scuffing the ground in a final feeble protest, the squelch of blood painting the ground beneath it, metal dragging and scraping against the surface with every forceful tug and jerk.

"This is so tedious and stupid." Grim Reaper scoffed, a scowl heavyset on his face as he let out a grunt, giving another forceful jerk. One calloused hand was wrapped around the long dark metal handle of a scythe, the handle shaped like an old dead tree, twisting around and around, with strange yet natural looking oblong curves and kinks. The sharp metal end, curving downwards into a sharp point, dripped thick garnet as it was dragged behind Grim Reaper, leaving scuffs in the flooring as it's sharp metal edge struck and sliced against the ground with each vigorous jerk. The other equally calloused hand had chains wrapped up firmly in his palm, multiple rounds of metal chain links wrapped around, his fingers clasped around the base of the non-wrapped remainder of the chain. At the other end of the chain lie multiple female bodies, all tied up and shackled together, being drug on a single chain. A multitude of them were bloodied corpses, slit at the throat, but for the most part the rest of their bodies remained unscathed. The other remainder of the cargo, were dying, lingering between the border of life and death, these poor souls had fought hard for resistance, but they just hadn't fought hard enough, inevitably becoming captives to the beholders of that dreadful ominous butterfly.

Grim Reaper's partner in crime said nothing in compliance, and he simply just continued dragging his own load behind him; a single corpse wrapped up in a body bag, a fairly young woman, her blonde hair angelic and golden, her almost too-thin frame littered in welts and purple bruises destined to never heal, her slender fingers broken and bent in peculiar unnatural angles, keratin fingernails pulled from the ends of her fingers. He couldn't help but wonder what made this battered and bruised dead woman such a precious high priority on Hawkmoth's list. What use was a dead woman—and not even recently killed at that—to Hawkmoth?

* * *

He hadn't been expecting it. He hadn't expected Ladybug to cup her hand around his mouth so suddenly. He hadn't had enough time to even think about suppressing the violent shudder that overtook his bones as he inadvertently flinched back away from her. His pupils automatically went wide with temporary fear as he froze, and suddenly he felt that sickening tightness around his wrists and his ankles, the wind caressing his bare skin, the phantom touch of cold fingertips tracing up his thighs. He knew she meant well, and he knew why she had done it, but he couldn't stop impulse, as flashbacks from that sickening night washed over him.

Her sudden action was justified by the fact that below them, a couple hundred feet away, were a duo of akumas, one carrying a long metal scythe while lugging a load behind him, while the other, likewise carried a shovel, a single body bag draped over his broad shoulder. Chat knew it had been an implication to shut him up, but a cold chill traced up his spine as he shuddered again, this time furiously shaking his head, snapping himself out of the trance.

Ladybug quickly withdrew her hand, holding it in an awkward mid-pause as she contemplated placing what she _thought_ would be a reassuring hand on her partner's shoulder. "Chat?" She asked in a concerned whisper, studying his sharp angular jaws and his still dilated pupils. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine." He choked weakly, trying to hide the embarrassment and shame from his voice.

Ladybug stood staring at him for a little longer before she finally turned on her heel and went back to focusing on the task at hand. She realized this was a tense situation, but had Chat always been that jumpy? Out of the corner of her eye, she could just barely see him in her peripherals, and she could see the tense stiffness in his shoulders. Was he just anxious and on-edge? For as long as she'd known him, he'd always crack jokes and puns in the most pressing situations, always cracking that stupid toothy grin of his at the most grim of outcomes.

Suddenly his voice, low and laced with anxiety, pulled the ravenette out of her thoughts. "L- LB..." he trailed off, his index finger trembling as he pointed in the direction of the akumas. Slowly, her bluebell eyes followed his line of sight, transfixing on the load being dragged behind the akuma with a scythe. "Is it just me, or are those civilians not moving?" Chat's voice came out weak and vulnerable, the paranoia of the worst case scenario tearing him to shreds on the inside.

She shook her head, and in the most reassuring tone she could manage she all but whispered, "We'll fix everything." She'd intended to say it for Chat, but the words ended up being more for herself. _We'll fix it_ , she repeated to herself in her head, inevitably wondering if she was only lying to herself.

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, she tried to prepare herself for what was to come. Looking at her partner for confirmation, they leaped from the rooftop. Landing silently and gracefully onto the pavement, the two proceeded with caution, conscious of every footstep and even of every breath. Taking precautions since so many civilians were at stake, considering they had no idea how perceptive these two akumas happened to be.

Chats eyes couldn't help but focus on the bodybag draped over the broader akuma's shoulder. Were they kidnapping someone specific? Were all of these other women, being chained and dragged, just innocent bystanders who just happened to get caught in the crossfire? Had they just been at the wrong place at the wrong time? Uneasily, his gaze then shifted to the onslaught of victims. He felt his heart plummet into his stomach, his lips inadvertently twisting into a grimace, the sight and coppery scent of blood, enough to make his stomach a little squeamish. Thin slender necks were slit with one single precise slice, blood cascading from the wounds and spraying onto the ground and splattering all over the women's clothing. Though if he concentrated and really looked, he'd find a living soul, kicking and clawing at the ground in resistance with what little strength they had left.

Chat clenched his fists tightly, hands trembling in anger. To what ends would Hawkmoth go to just to get what he wanted? Not waiting for consent from his partner, recklessly the blond charged into battle, holding his staff horizontally, extending it and aiming it to strike the broad shouldered akuma with the bodybag, in the head.

Gravedigger simply scowled and gently dropped the bodybag that had been perched over his shoulder onto the ground. A shovel in his other hand, he then used his now free hand, and rubbed the back of his head where Chat's baton had struck it. Shifting his weight, he then pivoted on one foot and turned to face Chat, eyes narrowed, an unsettling smirk stretched across his lips. "Looks like we have some fresh meat Grim." He said confidently, his voice deep and brusque.

"Chat what are you doing?!" Ladybug nearly screamed, her pupils dilating as she stared at him in disbelief. She couldn't stand how rash and careless her partner's actions always were.

Chat let out an uneasy nervous laugh, suddenly realizing just how much larger this guy was compared to him. He swallowed the hard lump in his throat, standing his ground as he retracted his staff.

"Listen here kids, this isn't a game." The second akuma said, dropping the chains he held to the ground with a metallic rattle. Picking up his scythe he strutted towards Chat, weapon drawn over his shoulder. He had something devious and dangerous in those dark cobalt eyes, unsettling flecks of cerulean dotting his irises. A mask was donned over the top half of his face, the mask a depiction of a human cranium, the bone structure chillingly lifelike, the edge of the mask stopping just above his bottom lip, the mask ending with a row of sharp demon-like fangs. Speckles of blood coated the ivory mask here and there. A cloak was draped around the akuma's lean figure, a drab matte black, long and tattered at its ends, streaks and spatters of bright liquid crimson coating various areas of the exterior.

Chat narrowed his eyes, cocking his head to one side. He recognized those eyes, those eyes full of contempt and pride, those eyes like cold turbulent seawater. _Why him?_ , Chat couldn't help but wonder. _Of all the things he could be akumatized into, why a mass murderer?_

Pursing his lips, Chat tightened his grip on the metal rod in his hand, luminous green eyes accessing Grim Reaper. He stole another glance at the victims, and this nearly made him sick to his stomach. With renewed vigor, he narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth, marching right up to Grim, grabbing the collar of his cloak. "Why." He demanded. " _Why_ did you do this?!"

"Stand down fleabag." Grim spoke in an arrogant manor, a smirk adorned across his face. "Or I'll have to do more than slit your neck."

Quickly backflipping out of the way, the blond narrowly dodged the sudden swing of Grim Reaper's scythe.

"Chat!" Ladybug called, pupils wide as her heart began to pound overbearingly loud in her ears. She then shot out her yo-yo, the appendage wrapping around the long handle of Grim Reaper's scythe, restricting and tethering the weapon, binding it strictly by the akuma's side.

He turned and shot a glare at the heroine, but the ugly scowl eventually twisted up into a smirk. "Our defender of justice not playing fair? Not setting a very good example, now are we?" Grim Reaper quipped as he released his grip on the curved blade, consistently dodging the oncoming attacks from the leather clad feline.

"Let's even these odds." Gravedigger interjected, his brusque voice deep and menacing, as he drove his shovel into the pavement, causing the ground to rumble and shake, knocking both members of the dynamic duo off balance. This action also shaking Ladybug's yo-yo loose, untangling it from the handle of Grim Reaper's scythe.

"Shoot..." Ladybug murmured, now twirling her yo-yo in a quick circular motion.

Recasting our her yo-yo she had it lasso around Grim Reaper's ankle, effectively tripping him. "Disarm him Chat!" She called as she kept her eyes focused on the second akuma, Grave Digger.

Using his staff and leaping through the air, Chat pounced, tumbling into a roll, he then jumped up from a kneel in front of the akuma, now using his staff as a shield. Holding it horizontally, just slightly extended in between his hands, Chat used it as a barricade as Reaper reared back and swung his scythe at the leather clad hero. He flinched at the sound of metal clashing on metal.

A smirk came across Chat's face as the curve of the blade wrapped around his baton, hooking into it. The momentum from being swung still influencing the blade, Chat gave a sudden forceful jerk backwards and downwards.

Catching onto what her partner was trying to do, Ladybug frantically retracted her yo-yo and then viciously cast it out again, this time tangling around Reaper's dominant hand. Catching the akuma off guard, he inadvertently loosened his grip on the handle of the scythe.

With Chat's forceful movement backward, the blade still hooked and curled around his baton, this caused the blade to be ripped from Reaper's hands. With the momentum from Reaper's attempted flourish, this caused the scythe to twirl around Chat's staff, the handle shooting upwards and falling down towards the blond. "What a _steel_ ~" Chat purred with newfound arrogance, a laugh bubbling out of his throat as he quickly wrapped his hands around the cool, metallic, engraved handle.

"Damn!" Grim Reaper growled through gritted teeth as he shot a glare at Chat. His cranium mask looking all the more menacing as his face twisted up in anger.

Swiftly, Chat then positioned the handle of the blade above his knee, and using his strength added from his suit, he then broke the metal rod over his knee, effectively snapping it in half. "Another akuma down, one more to go." The blonde began as he rubbed his hands together, dropping the now split pieces of the weapon, a metallic clang sounding as they hit the ground.

"You can't get rid of a deliverer of the dead that easily." Grim Reaper quipped snidely, a morbid expression on his face, his cobalt eyes filled to the brim with something darker deep within. "My purpose is to serve Hawkmoth, and you're both obstacles!" The brunette yelled, his eyes flashing a shade darker as his cloak dramatically swished behind him. He then withdrew daggers from slots on his boots, arming the two blades, one in each hand.

Ladybug swallowed the hard lump in her throat, her pupils dilated in shock, her voice nearly dying down in her throat. "T- The a- Akuma wasn't in his scythe?" Frantically her bluebell irises scanned his figure for anything that stood out or was a bit peculiar.

Ladybug quickly jumped backwards out of the way, dodging an incoming shovel attack from the other akuma. Desperately she used her yo-yo to counterattack, shooting her partner one more nervous glance before she turned her full attention onto the akuma. Gravedigger had completely slipped her mind.

Chat yelped as a dagger sliced through the open air and came soaring towards him, the blade striking and sticking into his leather belted tail.

"Ever heard of Impalement Arts?" Reaper asked darkly, a sadistic edge to his voice. "Why don't you play a game with me? You be the target and I'll be the performer." He said lowly in morbid amusement, an unsettling, twisted grin etched onto his features. His eyes were dull and lifeless, void of shine.

Luminous green eyes wide, the blond vigorously jerked on the handle of the dagger, withdrawing it from the sheath that had been his tail. Shakily holding it with a trembling gloved hand, he exhaled slowly trying to calm his overactive nerves. This brief few seconds of calm stilled his hands, and readjusting his grip on the dagger he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do.

Rashly sprinting towards the akuma, Chat then lunged forward, knife in hand, making a delicate, gentle light slash across Reaper's stomach. Using his knowledge of who the affected civilian was, Chat used this knowledge—albeit guiltily—to his advantage. Both he and his Lady were at a loss of what item the dreaded ominous midnight butterfly was inhabiting, so the leather clad hero knew there was only one other sure-fire option; Make the akuma lose consciousness. As he'd witnessed with their fight with Robustus, killing the switch would automatically forcefully eject the akuma. Since there was no way Chat would be able to get close enough, for long enough, to subdue him by non-lethally choking him out, he did what he had to. What better way to subdue an Anemic than by causing blood loss?

Immediately Chat couldn't help but feel a pinch of regret and guilt knotting in his stomach. He promised he would spout off a million apologies later, once everything was said and done. "Sorry Elias." The blond murmured solemnly, the tremble to his hands coming back as he dropped the now dripping dagger.

Reaper immediately doubled over at the infliction, clutching his wound tenderly as he grit his teeth, a wince resounding out of him. Reaper stumbled as his vision doubled, his fingers going numb at the tips, his knees buckling beneath his weight as resolute pain began to build in his chest. "Augh- Damn you Chat Noir!" The brunette choked, his voice raspy with pain.

Suddenly a luminous butterfly outline framed Grim Reaper's now pale face, Hawkmoth's voice filtering into the brunette's head. "GRIM REAPER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET UP!" Hawkmoth barked in relentless anger. "DON'T JUST LIE THERE! SEIZE CHAT NOIR'S MIRACULOUS!"

Swallowing dryly, in one last feeble viable attempt, he desperately slashed the remaining dagger that he had left, in front of him in hopeless abandon. His head was reeling, his vision fading as his heart beat uncontrollably loud in his ears. He could just barely make out the outline of Chat Noir in his bleary vision. He succumb to pain as darkness filled his vision, weakness persisting over his body, everything around him cold, the only warmth being the white hot searing pain in his chest resurfacing with every breath; a sickle cell crisis. His feeble attempt only ended in slashing the fabric at the leather clad hero's ankles to shreds, not drawing any blood from the blond. Losing what remaining balance Reaper had, he dropped to his knees and eventually fell onto his side, curling up and falling unconscious, a pained expression tainting his face.

Chat let out a sigh of relief as he saw the akuma flutter out from the civilian, disarming and detransforming them from that tainted and toxic control. Though, seeing his rival's face rather than the mask, only made Chat feel all the more guilty for what he had just done. Quickly glancing at Ladybug, he saw she was still tied up facing her own akuma. Panicked and frantic Chat quickly took his hands and caught the midnight butterfly, cupping his hands around the featherlight insect.

His tense muscles relaxing, he stared down at his hands, cupping over the akuma. "Gotcha!" He grinned, feeling a sense of accomplishment. He gasped in shock and desperately scrambled to grab the butterfly as it phased through his hands, his eyes wide. "Shitshitshitshit." He murmured anxiously in a paranoid mantra, his hands frantically waving about as he chased after the winged insect. He swatted and clawed at it in desperate anguish. Chewing on his bottom lip, his brows furrowed in worry, he stole another pleading glance at his Lady.

Like a mesmerized kitten, he continued batting at it with his hands, pouncing on it. His ears twitched in amusement and in slight annoyance. His belted tail swished back and forth at his deep concentration, as he'd finally caught it in his hands again, and like a cat presenting prey to its master, he proudly began to strut towards Ladybug to present it to his partner.

He growled and nearly fell on his face as the butterfly once again phased through his hands, trying to desperately flutter away from him.

His feline-like instincts kicking in, he fell to a last resort. Eyes shimmering with an unknown sense of determination, he leaped into the air, and with his mouth open wide, he closed his mouth around it, careful though not to clamp down on its wings or limbs, damaging it. His face immediately puckered in disgust, a grimace forming against his lips. He could feel its wings brushing against the roof of his mouth, its small legs crawling on his tongue, its antennae twitching and tickling the most sensitive area in the roof of his mouth. His eyes watered at the pungent taste forming in his mouth, the taste bitter and acrid like something spoiled and burnt, with the distinct tang of something coppery and metallic like blood. If this is what evil tasted like, he wanted nothing to do with it.

Noticing his Lady had managed to successfully tie up Gravedigger, but still appeared as though she still had her hands tied, with difficulty he swallowed the creature. Mentally he apologized to the poor butterfly, but it had to be done. He didn't have the ability to purify akumas, he knew this, he'd known since after their first akuma. He had cataclysm, but he had no idea what that would do or what effects that would cause to arise due to him using it on a butterfly. Honestly he wasn't ready to come to that yet, though he wasn't really sure why he had thought eating the akuma was any better of a solution.

He shuddered as he felt it go down his throat, cringing and sticking his tongue out in disgust at the aftertaste.

"Chat!" Ladybug called, stealing the blond's attention. "Will you use your cataclysm and break the shackles and chains on all of those civilians? Hopefully when I cast miraculous cure it'll fix everything." She said, the anxiety laced in her tone evident.

With a quick nod, he jogged over to her, his heart thrashing against his chest, blood roaring in his ears. He felt a pit of sadness well up inside him, more regret bubbling up within him, these victims another reminder of why everything had happened the way it did. All because neither he nor Ladybug were here in time.

Trying not to dwell on their bleeding wounds or their labored breathing too much, Chat took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Ignoring the tremor in his hands, he began to summon cataclysm for what felt like the hundredth time today. "Cataclysm!" With this he then brought his hand down onto the thick iron chains, fingers clasping around the cold slick metal chain links as he felt them disintegrate in his hand.

"Alright Bugaboo, it's all you." The blond said, stepping back.

"Fingers crossed." Ladybug said hopeful, as she began to destroy Gravedigger's afflicted item, releasing the akuma. "Wait, Chat what happened to the akuma from Grim Reaper?"

Chat felt sweat begin to bead at his forehead as he nervously began to rub the back of his neck. "N- Nothing. I took care of it." He replied with a nervous laugh.

She narrowed her eyes at him, an eyebrow quirked in suspicion. "...Took care of it _how_?," she asked, unconvinced.

"I did it, and that's all that matters." Chat shot back almost a little too defensively as he crossed his arms loosely across his chest. There was no way he was admitting that he had just eaten an akuma to his partner. Some things were better left unsaid.

With a sigh, knowing she would get nowhere with her stubborn ass partner, she shook her head. Throwing up the item that she had used from calling upon lucky charm, she then called on miraculous cure.

Her eyes had been squeezed tightly shut, her fingers crossed tightly on both hands. She honestly was scared at the possibility of what she would potentially see. She was scared that when she opened her eyes she would be met with that hellish Armageddon sky, the sight of rubble and hollow restless eyes from the victims looking directly into her pupils.

Thankfully, when she opened them, she was met with a bright azure sky, the roads and sidewalks back in order, not even a pebble out of place. She watched the swarm of ladybugs fly outbound, damage being reverted as the ladybugs cast their pool of influence.

She winced as she rubbed at the bruises along her arms, confused as to why they were still there. _Peculiar_ , she thought to herself, _miraculous cure usually mends and heals everything..._ Her eyes falling downcast, she then looked over the victims, and the sight almost made her heart break. Their condition was nowhere near fully healed, though no longer critically injured, they all still suffered from extremely severe injuries. Desperately, she scrambled over to a victim she knew had been a corpse previously, her pupils dilated as her heart hammered almost painfully against her ribcage. She frantically pressed her ear to their chest, a hand resting on their throat feeling for a pulse. It was weak and barely there, but there _was_ pulse. Ladybug let out a sigh of relief.

She felt tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill. Her hands began trembling as she stumbled over to another civilian she knew that had been dead. This one had sharp labored breathing, blood dripping from their mouth, but regardless they were now alive again too.

"Oh thank God." Ladybug whispered under her breath after checking multiple of the other victims' vitals.

"We did it!" Ladybug and Chat cried in unison as they met each other in a tight embrace. They had finally eliminated all of the akumas Hawkmoth had summoned. "Pound it!" They both cried happily, bringing their fists together.

"Oh wait, what about this one?" Chat asked, a tentative finger pointing at the body bag on the ground. "Whoever they were trying to kidnap, we should probably get them out."

Ladybug nodded in agreement. However, suddenly she cried out in pain, collapsing to her knees as unbearable white hot agony shot and coursed throughout her chest, her ears ringing as she felt something sticky and wet begin to trail down the sides of her face. Her was breath shaky as she reached a trembling hand to dab along her face, she recoiled as she was met with the sight of blood on her gloves. As the pain began to slowly subside, she pulled herself up into an unsteady standing position, her finger tracing up the side of her face, following the trail of garnet. She furrowed her brows in confusion as her fingers clasped around her earlobe, the blood stemming from where her earrings were. Why was the wound stemming from her miraculous? Had that sudden wave of pain been caused by the outlying damage and injuries caused from the akumas? Had that been the effect of having such an extended range for her swarm of ladybugs to heal? Or was the cause of this something more? This normally never happened when she called upon miraculous cure. "What's going on?" Ladybug murmured to herself as she rubbed her earlobes.

Chat had heard his Lady's yelp of pain, but what he was staring at after he had unzipped the zipper of the bodybag, had left him speechless and nearly paralyzed. Tears streamed down his face, his mouth hanging agape and his whole body beginning to tremble as he felt his stomach lurch forward. His blood ran cold, his breathing becoming sharp as he found it harder and harder to breath. Staring back at him were the same evergreen eyes he harbored, however the irises that pierced into his soul were cold, dead, and lifeless, a shade darker than Adrien had remembered. He felt like he was gonna be sick. Gingerly he reached his hand forward in disbelief his hands caressing the cheek of his mother's corpse. Her skin was cold and her bones brittle.

At the autopsy he hadn't gotten to see her up all that close, and since the funeral wasn't open-casket either, he hadn't realized just how badly her body had been mangled at death. He could still see the cold hard petrified fear engraved into her lifeless face.

"Chat?" Ladybug asked, approaching his shaking form slowly. "What's wrong-" her voice suddenly died in her throat as she caught sight of the corpse he was staring at. She felt her heart ache as he looked down further and noticed his hand intertwined around the young woman's, her heart hurting even more as she noticed the fingers of the corpse were devoid of having any fingernails period, the digits bent with unnatural kinks and curves and most definitely broken, pointing out in strange angles. She felt tears tugging at her own eyes. Standing alongside his crouched form, she gently stroked her partner's soft, tangled, golden blond hair. "I'm sorry we couldn't save her Kitty." Her frown deepened as her partner flinched at her gentle touch.

Chat briefly looked up at the ravenette, his eyes looking at her in sympathy. What she didn't know was that Chat was crying for a different reason; crying because this wasn't just some stranger's corpse, but this was his mother's.

Weakly standing up, he embraced Ladybug tightly, just needing her touch, needing her comfort.

As tears dripped from her own face, Ladybug rubbed gentle circles along the blond's back.

"It wasn't our fault." Chat whispered solemnly. "She was already dead."

With this revelation, Chat felt Ladybug tense up. She slowly pulled away from the blond. "Wh- What do you mean she was already dead?" Her brows knitted tightly together. "Y-you mean Hawkmoth was kidnapping a dead woman?!"

Chat nodded slowly. No matter how much Chat tried to understand why Hawkmoth would want _his_ mother of all people, was beyond the hero, he just couldn't place it.

Suddenly, he gasped as he saw a huge, almost what seemed like a flock, of ivory winged butterflies descend from the sky. He couldn't help but watch as the huge swarm seemed to engulf around his mother's body, lifting her up and beginning to carry her off. Too dazed and confused about what he was witnessing, he had failed to notice they were also carrying off one of the injured civilians. Once they had disappeared, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief, sure he had just imagined the whole thing since he was so exhausted.

"D- Did you see that too?" He asked, cocking his head and turning to look at the scarlet clad heroine.

"Mhm." Was all she could manage, still awestruck. What bothered her even more though, was the almost identical similarity of those butterflies, to the ones that she'd purify after an akuma attack.

As both of the duo's miraculous began to beep in warning, they turned to look at each other, bright luminous green meeting sparkling cerulean, they both gave each other a cheesy smile of acknowledgement.

"Great work _purr_ -tner." Chat joked meekly, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

"See you tomorrow Chat. Don't dwell on today too much okay? We'll make up for this soon by making Hawkmoth pay for what he's done."

"Definitely." The blond agreed, as he gave a bow and a kiss on the hand to Ladybug before his departure. The two then split and went their separate ways. Reassurance in the sirens that now wailed in the distance.

* * *

Hawkmoth let out a maniacal laugh, thrumming his fingers together, a dark grin on his face. "That was close, but don't worry my Dear, I won't let them hurt you." He said fondly as the swarm of ivory winged butterflies gently fluttered and filtered into the opening of Hawkmoth's lair. The butterflies then gently laid the body of Mrs. Agreste and the unfortunate victim on the ground.

Hawkmoth's grin slowly dipped into a frown, a slight pout about his lips. He assessed the single candidate that had been presented before him. "I was hoping to have a wider selection to choose from, but I suppose you'll do..." he trailed off, crouching down next to the young woman, his hand getting a feel for her features. The victim stared at him with wide eyes, a distinct fear among them, and had it not been for the duct tape around her mouth, she would've screamed.

Striding over to Mrs. Agreste, Hawkmoth then began to undress her cold dead body, his eyes roaming over every dip and curve, assessing the damage done to her. He ran his tongue over his dry lips, pent up longing plaguing him. Stealing a glance at his hostage, he then looked back down at his deceased wife. Shamelessly he then began to strip off his pants, his thin lips upturning into a disturbed smirk in anticipation. This woman being held captive, didn't know that the illustrious Gabriel Agreste was under this mask, so it was fine.

Flipping her over, and grabbing the waist of the corpse, he then positioned himself over her body, thrusting into her. He couldn't help committing necrophilia. He had missed this, he had missed _her_.

Once satisfying his need, he redressed himself, clearing his throat, a slight tint to his cheeks. "Now onto phase two." He said as he grabbed a saw, fingers tracing over the metal of the blade. "This is where you come in." He grinned morbidly as he crouched and approached the victim. "Let's start with these beautiful hands of yours." He purred as he brought the teeth of the saw back and forth, slicing through her skin, blood spurting and spraying from the growing slit. A sickening crunch filling the air as his saw started to grind through bone.

The victim squirmed and writhed in agony, tears streaming down her face as she wriggled to get away from him, her agonizing screams muffled by the duct tape. She screamed as Hawkmoth held up her very own detached hand in front her. In horror, she dared to glance at where her hand should've been, and the sight nearly made her choke on her own vomit. Instead of her hand, a bone poked out of the raw open stump of her wrist, deep garnet streaming down her flesh.

Taking his acquired hand, he then precisely sawed off the right hand of his wife. Unwinding long thick black thread from a spool, he then cut it with his teeth. Using a surgical needle, he then threaded the eye and began to align his wife's wrist with the hand. Once set, he began reattaching a hand, making long, wide, spread apart stitches, his excitement and anticipation fraying his patience. He had abandoned his careful delicate technique as a designer, and began stitching rather crudely and recklessly. Tying it off in a knot, completing the stitch and securing the appendage to the stump, he then cut the thread.

"I'll make you beautiful again Dear, I promise." Hawkmoth murmured, as he caressed his wife's stiff face. He hummed to himself as he reacquired the saw, the blade glinting ever-so-slightly in the dim lighting as he went back to the task of dismembering the hostage little by little. As he worked, he continued to hum the same merry tune he had once heard Adrien play when his son had first learned the piano, his head bobbing along to the melody of the song.

* * *

 **A/N: Welp...that happened. I love feedback, so feel free to favorite, follow, and review. Also thank you guys so much for sticking with me and this fic, and for all of your support xD!**

 **-The~Candy~Craving~Demon**


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